The Reasons behind Nothingness
by Ell XIV
Summary: People are never what they seem to be. That is the lesson learned by Chihiro after six years of enslavement. But the Fate is cruel to her. What would happen if she was to meddle with the past in order to discover the root of Fate's hatred? Read Prequel...
1. The Reason

**Before reading this, read the prequel**

**Happily Never After**

**Or else you won't get it...**

* * *

**The Reason...**

Six years. Six whole years. Six painful, pointless, miserable years since I've been tricked by that voice -The Fate- into failing Yubaba' s final test and slaving for the witch. To my slight comfort, Haku, instead of breaking the curse of Yubaba and freeing himself, stayed in the bath house, even if that meant staying as Yubaba' s slave.

Sure, the spirits around here has become more pleasant and polite towards me, but Yubaba still treated me the same as ever. But Bo's influence helped. I wasn't treated as badly when we were in his presence.

I went to visit my parents -who were, regretfully, still pigs- but thankfully weren't eaten. Haku and Bo and everybody else had threatened Yubaba enough to convince her against it. Still. At times I was miserable. During that time I would stand in the pig pen, in front of my parents and swear that someday, I'd de-piggify them and get them and we'd all return to the Human world, where we belong. It saddened me to admit that, though. I made so many friends here, it almost felt like… I belonged here. I was without human contact for so long; it almost felt like this was where I am supposed to be. At those times, I would shake those thoughts away and tell myself I was human, not a spirit. I would curse the voice –I still hesitated to call her 'The Fate'- for snatching away the one chance I had to save my parents and myself.

"Chihiro! Chihiro!" came a voice, sharp, loud and familiar.

"Oh…" The now-sixteen-years-old said. "Hi Rin."

"Chihiro." The spirit accused. You were daydreaming again! Weren't you?"

"Well…" The human trailed off. The older of the two brown heads sighed.

"Chihiro, this is the sixth time today that you've been like this. Is something wrong?" She asked gently. "Is it some kind of human thing I should know about?"

"What's wrong with Chihiro?" came a gentle voice behind them, which made them both jump twenty feet up in the air.

"Haku! You scared me!" said Chihiro, trying to calm down her fast-beating heart.

"Stop trying to sneak up on us you little-!" Rin glared at the green haired boy. Thanks to Chihiro those two had gotten along better then before, but they (Rin) still couldn't be nicer to him.

"Rin, stop being mean to him." Chihiro stuck up for Haku, as always. Rin just 'hummp!'ed and walked away.

"Thanks." Haku grinned. "Although I would have been perfectly capable of handling her myself."

"Nonsense." Chihiro murmured, smiling to herself.

"So, what's wrong?" Haku asked, a worried expression replacing his grin.

"Nothing, nothing... I'll go see my parents now." Chihiro quickly changed the subject. She had told no one about the voice, not even Haku. She was worried what they would think.

"You've been hanging around the pig pen an awful lot these days." Haku observed.

"They're my _parents_, Haku." She said more forcibly, hinting that she did not want to be pushed any further. Haku took the hint.

"Alright, then. Come back before the dark, okay?"

"Of course."

* * *

As Chihiro headed for the pigpen, she heard a sound. Not just any sound, it was music. A clear, soft tune of the flute was getting louder and louder as Chihiro approached the pigpen. Burning with curiosity, she opened the door to see who was playing such an innocent tune in a pigpen, of all places. She tiptoed to see a young boy sitting in the middle of the pigpen, blowing a wooden flute. His eyes were closed and it seemed like he was concentrating so much on his flute, he did not even notice that Chihiro entered. Chihiro just observed the boy for a second. He had a slim build, and his pale face was framed by long locks of blue-black hair. The right side of his face was covered with hair while the left was swept off to the side, revealing his sharp facial features. He looked not so younger than Chihiro, yet he seemed a lot smaller, slouched upon himself.

There was an eerie silence save for the music of the flute. Chihiro found this very strange, since the pigs were always so noisy, snorting and squealing. But today, it was all silent. No snorting, no squealing. Very odd.

"Hi." Chihiro greeted, shyly. But the boy had obviously thought he was alone, so he jumped fifty feet into the air, slipped off the ledge he was sitting on and landed headfirst into the pile of pig-waste in the pigpen he fell in.

"Umm… Are you okay?" Chihiro asked, round-eyed. Normally spirits would notice her coming a hundred miles away, no matter how quietly she came. Did that mean this queer boy was not a spirit but a… human?

"What do you think?" The boy spat. Chihiro flinched at the open show of malice.

"I… I'm sorry." Chihiro stammered. The boy turned his back to her, and, to Chihiro's amazement, there was no trace of pig-waste anywhere. Not on his clothes, his hair, or his skin. 'So he is a spirit after all.' Chihiro thought in disappointment.

The boy sighed. "It's alright. I'm sorry I snapped at you." He turned around with a smirk. "You're Chihiro, right? The one _he_ is obsessed about?"

"_He_?" Chihiro repeated.

"Y'know." His smirk widened. "The _great_ Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi." He said sarcasticly. Chihiro raised an eyebrow. Most of the spirits-save Rin- practically worships the very ground he walks on. Sometimes it was so extreme it was comical. No one ever dared to make fun of him. But this boy just did.

"You really shouldn't talk about him that way." She advised him. "he may not look it, but he has quite a temper."

"Yeah. I know." The boy responded with a shrug.

"So… who are you, exactly?" Chihiro asked.

"My name is Hirako Kurai." He said. "I'm the guardian of all the animals." He said, "You're not very observant, are you? I almost live in this place, and you, during six whole years, didn't notice me whenever you came to visit my pigs."

"They're my _parents_!" Chihiro cried.

"You're a daughter of two pigs?" He asked, skeptical. "You sure fooled me."

"They were humans, but Yubaba turned them into pigs." Chihiro frowned.

"You mean she had _me_ turn them into pigs." Hirako corrected her.

"What?"

"She made _me_ turn them into pigs." He repeated.

"But I thought…"

"I know what you thought. A powerful witch she may be, she cannot take other spirit's authorities."

"But why would you do such a thing?" Chihiro asked.

He shrugged. "I'm bound by the contract to do whatever she says. Just like you."

"Chihiro." Came a different voice from behind her and a hand on her shoulder.

"Ha-Haku!" Chihiro cried, whipping around.

"I see you met Hirako. At long last." The grinning dragon said. "How did you get him to show himself?"

"She caught me playing my flute." Said one sour-faced Hirako, waving his flute.

"Well, say goodbye now." Haku said. "Yubaba wants to see you, Chihiro."

"Fine, _be like that_. Just steal her like that from me, dragon." Teased the animals' guardian spirit. "You're just jealous 'cause I get to stare at her whenever she comes to visit her parents."

"Hirako. That's enough." Haku warned.

"Whatever." Than suddenly the boy disappeared.

"Eh? Where did he go?" Chihiro asked, confused.

"To tend to his chickens, I believe." Haku said. "I'd prefer if you didn't talk to him that much, to be frank. He has a bad temper and has a bad past with humans."

"Look who's talking." Chihiro murmured.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed... Review.**


	2. Is my existence really… unnecessary?

**Chapter 2; Is my existence really... Unnecessary?**

Chihiro pushed open the heavy doors. Behind it sat Yubaba, behind her giant antique desk.

"So you finally came." Yubaba glared. "Took you long enough."

"Yes, I came." Chihiro replied cooly. "Now, why did you call me here?"

"I don't like your tone, human." Yubaba

growled, but let it go. "The reason I called you here," she started slowly, as if talking to someone who didn't understand the language, "Because we are getting some extra-special guests tonight."

"So...?"

"These guests are very, VERY old. And rich. Very, VERY rich. If we do well this time, then we will gain considerable amount of money."

"You mean YOU will gain considerable amount of money." Chihiro pointed out. "Since you don't PAY us or anything, do you?"

"Shut your mouth, little girl." Yubaba snapped.

"So what's you're point?"

"Stupid girl, do I need to point out everything for you?" Yubaba glared some more. "These spirits are OLD. Older then me, even."

Chihiro raised an eyebrow. 'These spirits must be ANCIENT, if they were even older than Yubaba', she thought.

"They are old, so naturally, they have old traditions."

"Are you suggesting that-"

"What I'm suggesting IS, Sen, that you keep yourself out of their WAY!" Yubaba screeched. "If I hear ONE word of complaint about a stinking human out of them, then I'll serve your parents for dinner and turn you into a little piglet you are!"

"You mean you'll have Hirako turn me into a piglet." Chihiro said coldly as she glared at the witch. "I met him, you know. He told me that even YOU can't evade another spirit's authority. So you're just pretending you did all these things." She smirked. "That's pitiful."

"You met the Animal Guardian?" Yubaba gasped, astonished. Then, to Chihiro's utter surprise, she grinned. "Ha! You sealed your own fate the second he looked at you! He, after all, is the one who hates humans the most!"

"But he seemed nice." Chihiro defended him. "Hirako wouldn't do a thing to me!"

"Who?" Asked the witch, confused now.

"Hirako." Chihiro repeated. "The Animal Guardian. Or whatever you called him."

"His name-" Yubaba started, but was interrupted by the doors slamming shut. It was the frog foreman, bowing and sweating.

"I...I'm t...terribly sorry Y... Yubaba, but a...another message j...just arrived. TH... THEY are coming. S...soon." He stuttered.

"What! We're still not ready!" She cried, then glared at the frogman. "What are you doing, lazing around in here! Get our prettiest girls ready! And cook with our best ingredients!"

"B... But!"

"No 'But's!" Yubaba screeched. "We'll get ten times the price from THEM." she growled to herself. Then she glanced at Chihiro. "And YOU! Go and hide yourself until the guests leave tomorrow!"

"Fine." Chihiro spat. "I don't care. I'm just glad I can get away from you." then she whipped around and left. Then she slammed the doors shut.

As expected, Haku was waiting there.

"So?" he asked. When Chihiro did not answer, he shrugged. "I suppose it is about the same thing they're panicking over, downstairs. The big guests. Am I right?" Chihiro just pouted at him. He grinned, but then was serious. "What about them? What did Yubaba want?"

"She wants me out of their way tonight until they leave. She said they're not fond of humans." Chihiro said, as they entered the elevator.

"And for once, she's right." Haku murmured.

"Do you know them?" Chihiro asked, round-eyed.

"As a matter of fact." the way Haku said this made it obvious that they were not his favourite people.

"Who are they? What are they like? How do you know them?"

"Yubaba's right. It is better if you didn't meet them." Haku muttered, as they got off the elevator and walked into a crowded hallway. Everyone was so busy preparing for these guests.

"Hey! Don't change the subject!" Chihiro cried. "Tell me about them!" Suddenly, Haku whipped around and grabbed Chihiro's shoulders. "Hey!"

"Listen to me, Chihiro." Haku said, looking right at Chihiro with those piercing, green eyes of his. "The guests who are coming tonight, they are a committee consisting of only the highest ranked spirits in this world. The most powerful ones, the most famous ones, the richest ones. The OLDEST ones. They'll all be there. It's. Not. Safe." He shook her up a little bit. She felt like rattling. "There are 15 numbers... And three pairs... But numbers 15 and 10 are said to be missing..." Haku murmured.

"What? What are you talking about! What numbers?" Chihiro demanded. "TELL ME!"

At that, Haku looked at her as if he wad sizing her up. Then he let go of her shoulders and dragged her by her wrists.

"Hey! Wait! Where are we going?" Chihiro shouted. "Let me go!"

"Picking a fight with the dragon now, are we?" An amused voice said. Amused and familiar.

"Hirako!" She said to the grinning boy.

"Animal Guardian." said Haku stiffly. "It's not often you show your face up here."

"True." The smaller boy nodded. "But today... Is a special day, no? I heard the Numbers were visiting tonight."

"What's the Numbers?" Chihiro asked eagerly. She was sure her new friend would not hide something from her. She trusted him. But instead of answering, he just looked at Haku.

"You haven't told her?"

"No. It's not like she's going to meet them tonight."

"Why not?" Hirako asked. "They're coming HERE, aren't they? Why shouldn't she know?"

"Yes, they are indeed coming here. But SHE won't be seeing them." Haku announced.

"Why not?" Hirako asked again.

"Yubaba's orders." Haku said curtly.

Hirako snorted. "And since when do YOU listen to Yubaba's orders like a good little doggie?"

"Let's go, Chihiro." Haku grabbed her wrist again.

"Hey, Animal Guardian!" A new, sharp voice joined them. Hirako looked up (since he's so small).

"Rin!" Chihiro cried delightedly.

"Chihiro." The tall woman barely acknowledged her presence. "You. Animal Guardian. You showed up at the worst time, as usual."

"It seems I have a gift for doing so." Hirako commented lightly.

"Now there's this stench of animal dung everywhere!" Rin complained. "Don't you ever take a bath?"

"I do, actually. Not that there's any point in doing so. It's more like a ritual, actually." Rin snorted. "Snort all you want, woman, but you can't deny the truth."

"So what ARE the Numbers, Hirako?" Chihiro tried again.

"The Numbers are the group if powerful spirits that are coming here today." Hirako smirked. "You sure are slow."

Chihiro blushed, somehow.

"Enough." Haku growled. "Don't tell her anything unnecessary, Animal Guardian."

"Whatever."Hirako shrugged. "It wasn't unnecessary. She has the right to know, after all."

"That's right!" Chihiro supported. Haku narrowed his eyes at her. "Anyway." Chihiro said quickly, changing the subject. But Hirako beat her at it.

"I need to go see how my deer are doing." He frowned. "Those foolish frogs will have scared them to death." then he left, muttering about frogs, deer and sheep(?).

"Now that HE'S gone." Rin muttered. "What did Yubaba want?" She turned towards Chihiro.

"Me put of her way during the Numbers' visit." Chihiro replied glumly.

"Well..." Rin hesitated.

"Oh, don't tell me you agree with her!" Chihiro finally exploded. "Look, I'm sorry I'm a stupid, stinkin' human, okay? But I can't help it, I was BORN this way! So all you awesome and perfect spirits, LIVE WITH IT!" She huffed for breath after her angry speech. Haku and Rin were both silent.

"Spirits are not perfect." Haku said quietly after a long pause.

"Nor do we think you're stupid." Rin added. "You are smarter than half of the spirits here, Sen."

"But we DO know more about the Numbers than you do." Haku said gently. "And believe me, they are not like any other spirits you've met. I told you they were powerful, did I not? But that is not all. They are cruel, merciless, and they despise human. They will not hesitate one second before killing you." He thought for a bit. "And." He added, "We won't be able to stop them."

"You make sound like they're some big, scary monsters." Chihiro snorted.

"That's because they ARE big, scary monsters." He said in a strained voice. "I told you, they will kill you the second they lay their eyes on you. They won't stop to consider who you are or what you are doing here. They won't listen to any of our explanations!"

"Why?" Chihiro asked, confused.

"History states that long, LONG time ago, the eighteen of the Numbers went in war with the humans. They very nearly lost, so they say that's why they all hate humans so much."

"So does that mean humans lost?" Chihiro said, cocking her head to the side.

"No. The war ended with a treaty. The terms, they say, were that humans sacrifice one human to each spirit every decade, and that those spirits do their part to make humans' lives easier." Haku explained. "But it's not actually proven that there WAS indeed a war. The Numbers aren't saying anything about it, and those precious few spirits who were alive at that time aren't talking, either."

"To each spirit, huh." Chihiro muttered. "Eighteen people dying... Once every ten years..."

"And moreover, the Numbers demanded the sacrifices are... Hmm... 'To their taste.'" He added.

"Taste? What do you mean?"

" Well, a certain member of the Number is said to like the flesh of old women while another prefers a baby boy..." Chihiro's face turned white. Then green. Then blue. And finally, red.

"How could they! Asking for a sacrifice is bad enough, but they had to be PICKY about it? They're HORRIBLE!"

"We told you so." Rin said quietly.

"At least they didn't ask for one each day." Haku said. "There is a Number that I am acquainted to whom would have been more than happy to ask for that. But it seems like the other Numbers disagreed with him."

"..." Chihiro just glared at her feet. It did seem like these 'Numbers' WERE really dangerous. "Alright." Said she, quietly.

"What?" Rin and Haku said together.

"I'll think about what you said. Then I'll decide if I stay around for their visit or not." Chihiro said.

"Chihiro." said Rin, disapprovingly. "There IS nothing to think about! You MUST stay away for their visit!"

"I'll think about it." Chihiro repeated, determined.

"Chihiro-" Haku started. But Chihiro

Didn't stop to listen. She just ran. She knew they could catch up in no time at all, if they wanted, but she ran anyway. She heard no footsteps after her. So she just ran, with no particular place in mind.

When she stopped to take a breath, she looked around and saw a familiar surrounding.

* * *

**Yup, review**


	3. So why aren't you here with me?

**Chapter 3; So Why Aren't You Here With Me?**

Chihiro looked around. Without realizing it herself, she had come here. Perhaps it was natural. After all, when people were scared, the first thing they instinctively reach for is their parents. And, whether they were pigs or not, they were still her parents. She found them without any trouble. There was this... Feeling, that led her to them. Plus, she found out, after coming here almost everyday for six years, that not all pigs looked the same. They were similar, sure, but each one had something unique about them. And Chihiro had begun to name each one, for a reason she herself did not know, based on it's characteristic.

"Hey mom. Hey dad." She said, smiling weakly for her parents. "How have you been?" The pigs just snorted. "Yeah. I know I've been here just a few hours ago. But... I couldn't help but coming here. They... They some very scary spirits are coming to the Bath-House. Yubaba and everyone else says that it's better if I leave the Bath-House for a few days, for my own safety. They told me about them... And they really seem... Frightening." Then suddenly, she burst into tears. "But where will I go, mom? The Bath-House is the only place I know in the spirit world! And I can't go back to the human world! Everyone thinks this is best for me, but they don't understand! What if the Numbers stay here for more then a day? What if they decide to stay for a week? For a month? For an year? Maybe I'm being unreasonable. Maybe I'm freaking out for nothing! But I... I don't want to feel like THAT night." Chihiro trembled. "The.. The night you turned into pigs. I ran away from you, remember? When I was sitting beside that lake, before Haku found me, I felt... I felt like I... I was all alone in this strange world! I felt so..." Her tears swallowed her words. Then, she felt a hand on top of hers. She looked up. "Ha... Haku?"

"I'm sorry." The figure said. "I could go get him, if you'd like."

"No. It's alright." She said that but deep inside, so deep Chihiro herself did not realize it, she was a bit disappointed. "Stay, Hirako." She wiped her tears on her sleeves. "Am I disturbing your work? I'm sorry. Please, go-" But Hirako shushed her before she could finish.

"No, no. I was just about finished. You could just... Er... continue what you were just doing. Don't mind me." There was an awkward silence which lasted for a couple of seconds. "Are you really that afraid?" Hirako asked, breaking the eerie silence.

"Yes." Chihiro said in a tiny voice. "Am I being stupid?"

"No. Not at all." Hirako said. "I don't think fearing loneliness is a stupid thing." He paused. "I know. I felt it too."

"Really?" Chihiro asked, a bit surprised. "But you have all these animals that adore you!" She said, gesturing to the pigs who were all struggling to get closer to him.

"Yes. I know." He said, patting the head of the nearest pig, who squealed delightedly. "But did you notice the way everyone called me an Animal GUARDIAN, not Animal Spirit?"

"I.. I..." Chihiro stuttered. He smiled.

"That's alright. I already knew you were a bit slow. You're good at noticing the whole picture, but you tend to miss the details." He grinned. "I am an Animal GUARDIAN because I was MADE one, not BORN one. But before I became a Guardian, I was..."

"You were?" Chihiro asked, eager to hear more. Hirako grumbled something. "Pardon? I can't hear you. Can you repeat what you just said?"

"Alright, alright! I was a HUMAN, okay?" he said grumpily. "Don't make me say it again."

"Why not?" Chihiro asked, curious. Hirako just ignored her. "Haku told me you despised humans." She tried again. "Is it true?" Hirako glanced at her, then nodded, slowly. "Why?" Chihiro asked. "You used to be human. How could you hate your own race?"

"I did." Hirako said. "It's not impossible, you know."

"But... But that's still..."

"Cruel?" Hirako suggested. "Heartless? Messed up? Yeah. You're right." He grinned, and for the first time, Chihiro noticed how strange his canines were. His teeth were... Pointy. They were sharp and pointy. Almost like... Fangs. "It IS cruel, heartless and messed up."

"No, I meant to say..."

"Yeah?"

"SAD. It's so sad. Hating your own race... Your family. Your friends... Everyone you know of."

"Not everyone." Hirako corrected, quietly. "Not everyone."

"You mean you knew of a spirit before becoming the Guardian of Animals?"

"Well, not a SPIRIT, exactly." he thought for a bit. "I can't remember that much about thar person. Not their name, nor what they are... Or even if it's a he or a she. All I remember is that... I liked them. A lot. He or she was... Very UNIQUE. One of a kind."

"Why can't you remember anything about him?" Chihiro asked. "I mean, if you liked him, you must remember SOMETHING about him, no matter how much time it passed." She said. Even Chihiro, who has been I'm the spirit world since she was 10 years old, remembered SOMETHING about her human friends.

"It's not like I haven't tried to remember him." Hirako defended. "Every time I try to remember something about him, there's this one word that comes to my mind. It's almost like... That word is a WALL blocking me from seeing my memories, or a KEY to unlocking them."

"What's the word?" Chihiro asked eagerly.

"Why do you want to know? It has nothing to do with you, after all." Hirako asked.

"Hey, maybe I can help you recover your memories". Chihiro said, although she had her doubts. Hirako thought for a bit. When he spoke, his voice was unusually serious.

"The Fate."

Chihiro gasped.

"What?" Hirako asked. "Do you know something about that?" Suddenly, out of nowhere, he grabbed Chihiro's arm and squeezed tightly. "Do you?"

"N...No!" Chihiro yelled, startled. "Oww! You're hurting me!"

"S... Sorry!" Hirako let go of her arm as if it burned him. "I... I just feel like the memory has to do something to do with the fact that I became a Guardian... And the fact that I despise humans..." He hesitated. "And the fact about me being what I am." He frowned. "Or what I became, rather."

"Huh? You mean the fact about you becoming a Guardian?"

"No..." He bit his lips. "Actually, never mind. If you don't know anything about that word... There is no need to concern yourself with it."

"But..."

"Never mind." He said firmly. His tone suggested that the discussion was over, period.

"Alright then." Chihiro said, disappointed.

"Come on." Hirako said. "Lets go for a walk. It doesn't bother me, but the scent of pig-waste must be disgusting." He held out his hand.

Chihiro grinned. "You're kinda pushy."

"What in the world do you mean?" He replied in mock innocence.

"You should know that after coming here every day for six years, I got used to the smell."

"But I need to feed my fish." He said, cocking his head on one side. "And I thought you wouldn't mind helping me."

"Sure, why not? I have nothing to do, anyway." This time, she took his hand.

* * *

"Do these fish REALLY eat raw meat?" Chihiro asked, throwing another one, which made a big splash and disappeared in the navy blue water in under the bridge. The bridge where she first met Haku, six years ago.

"I haven't actually checked, but I've been giving them this everyday for the last..." He paused. "Couple of hundred years, I guess. So if they don't eat this, the water will be piled with rotten meat." He grinned. "And all the fish will be dead, too."

"That's horrible!" Chihiro exclaimed, but Hirako started laughing.

"Of COURSE I haven't actually seen them EAT! But I know for sure that this is what they like." He smiled. "They told me."

"WHAT?" Chihiro dropped the meat she was holding. It dropped on the floor with a sickening 'thud'.

"What did you expect? I'm an Animal Guardian. Of course I'm able to speak to animals."

"Yeah... But..." Chihiro frowned, searching for a comeback. "Fish aren't animals." She finished lamely. Hirako laughed again. But then, he stopped And whipped around.

"Someone's there." He hissed. Chihiro turned around too, almost afraid of seeing what was there. It wasn't a presence she had learned to recognize. It was a stranger then, though Chihiro had this warm, familiar feeling like she met the mysterious stranger already.

"Show yourself!" Hirako yelled. Chihiro wanted to tell him to stop shouting. Whoever it was, she was 99% sure that she met the person already. Though Chihiro couldn't tell where exactly she met him or her, nor if he was good or bad.

There was no reply. When Hirako was about to take a step towards the unseen stranger, there was a sound of water splashing gently. The two instantly turned towards it. There was a little figure there, it's back to the two of them, wearing a long black cloak. The water was gently lapping her bare feet. Chihiro gasped. The pair of feet were impossibly white. Paper white. So white, it was almost glowing. Nobody could have that kind of skin color, no matter who it was.

"Hey! You over there! What are you doing?" Hirako yelled. The figure didn't respond. Hirako walked towards the figure angrily.

"Hirako!" Chihiro exclaimed. "What's your problem? It's not like it's forbidden to go in the lake, right? Leave the poor thing alone!"

"It's not that." Hirako growled. "That is no mere spirit. It is... Something more. Something that is colder than ice. Moreover... It is still. TOO still." But before Chihiro could ask, he answered her question. "No movement at ALL. That means no breathing. No internal organs moving. No HEARTBEAT." He grimaced. "My fish are terrified." We arrived at the shore of the lake. Hirako stepped in the water and, to my surprise, just walked on top of the flowing currents. I just followed him in case he did something to this little figure, splashing clumsily.

"You." Hirako growled, and his pointy canines were revealed. He grabbed the figure's front. "Who are you. You're not supposed to be here. LEAVE."

The little figure flinched, as if awaken from a trance. She looked up, although Hirako was only taller than her by one or two centimeters. I saw her face over his shoulder, and gasped. Her skin was as white as her feet. Her right eye was pitch black, just like her hair, with no light reflected from it. But the most frightening thing was her left eye. From her under her long bangs into her jaw line, there was a strange black scar that ran across her left eye. As a result, her left eye was blood red. She opened her mouth, and said a single word.

"Raphael?" Chihiro wasn't completely sure, but when the little girl said that word, a strange emotion flashed across her eyes. But only for a second.

"What?" Hirako frowned at the foreign word.

"Huh?" The little girl blinked twice. "Eh, hello." She said, as if she said nothing at all.

"Who are you?" Hirako asked.

"Who are YOU?" The girl shot back. "I don't have any obligations to tell you who I am."

"Oh yes you do." Hirako said. "I am an Animal Guardian who works here."

"Guardian?" She repeated and somehow, the way she said it made the phrase sound like she was mocking him. Hirako growled. The little girl took a step back, involuntarily.

"I've told you who I am, so tell me who you are." Hirako said a tiny bit more gently.

"But you haven't told me who SHE is." The little thing pouted.

"My name is Chihiro, and I work here as well." Chihiro replied, trying to smile warmly for the poor frightened thing. TRYING.

"I'm ZaKura. I came here with my brothers." She looked a little confused, but then, out of nowhere, she started to cry silently. "Bu... But I... I lost th... Them. Wh... What a... Am I su... Suppose to... D... Do now?" she wailed.

"H... Hey! Don't cry!" Hirako said, confused. He tried to comfort her only to fail. He may be good at comforting ANIMALS, but he was no good at comforting a little child.

"Are you okay?" Chihiro took over. "It's okay, we'll find your brothers." She took her hands. "Why don't you tell us what they look like?"

"Well..."


	4. Don't Blame Me For What You Are

**Chapter 4; Don't blame me for what you are.**

Up at the bath-house, the every single staff member was gathered along the sides of the hallway. This scene reminded Haku of six years ago, when No-Face had come, throwing gold, demanding for food and Chihiro.

Then, suddenly, the door burst open and in came fourteen figures. The staff gasped. They all varied and shapes and sizes, but all had one thing in common.

The enormous, breathtaking, and DANGEROUS aura.

Haku sniffed, and winced. They all smelled horrible. Like blood. Like death. He was relieved that Chihiro had ran away. The rumor seemed to be true.

"Dearest guests!" Yubaba thundered, and bowed. The rest of the staff bowed as well. "Thank you for your presence in this humble establishment!"

"Hello." Said one of them, stepping up and smiling brilliantly. She had the form if a petite, innocent-looking brunette. "It is a pleasure to visit the famous Bath-House where many of our fellow beings frequent so much." Her speech was slightly accented. She would have passed for a perfect human if not for the long, pointy ears peeking out from her long hair.

"She's the..."

"My name is Nikane, Nikane of the Second Number." She smiled at the frog who had spoken, who flinched. "Not that it matters, of course, but I hear all spirits know us as 'The numbers'? I wonder why. It is true that we each have tattoos somewhere on our bodies, but it just served as something to replace our names, you know. During the war." At the mention of the war, the whispers started.

"So there really WAS a war." Someone muttered.

"Are they really the ONLY survivors of that war?" Another shook her head, disbelievingly.

"That must've been some sight to see."

"I-"

"SILENCE!" Yelled Yubaba. "We must not make our guests uncomfortable!"

"That's alright." Another 'number' said. "It was OUR Nikane who started it, after all." He smiled and all the girls squealed in delight.

'A lady-killer, eh? Even the Numbers have one.' Haku thought, amused.

"Well, I'd APPRECIATE it if you used my name, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi." One second, the mahogany haired feminine boy was there, along with the other 'Numbers', the next, he was face to face with Haku.

"How can I use your name if you never told me what it is?" Replied Haku, unfazed. 'So this one can read minds.' He thought.

"Well then, I suppose I'll tell you my name, so you can use it!" The boyish Number grinned. "My name is Deiran, and in case you're interested, I am of the Seventh Number." And in his mind he added, 'Well deducted. I indeed CAN read minds.'

"I see you already know my name." Haku nodded. "Honored to meet you, Deiran."

"Same here." The two eyes met, jade-green to ocean-blue.

"Seventh." The one at the very front, the one who seemed to be the leader, the tall, young, and deep blonde one, called. "Do not tease the staff, or I'm afraid we'll have to spend the vacation we all worked so hard to get somewhere else."

"Alright, I get it, I get it." Deiran grumbled, and wiggled his fingers in Haku's direction. Haku narrowed his eyes. This little boy had dared to tease HIM?

"This way please." Yubaba led them, a rare sight.

"Wait." A Number hissed. Haku flinched internally. HE was here after all. Of course, why wouldn't he be? All the Numbers that WEREN'T said to be missing were here. Naturally, HE would come too. The one with the blood-red hair. "What's this, Yubaba? You were hiding a human under your sleeve?"

"Of course not. I assure you, this Bath-House is completely free of those stinking creatures." Yubaba said without hesitation.

"Then what is this human stench I smell? I assure YOU, it is not wise to try to fool ME." He growled.

"Chika." The number beside him said gently, but forcefully. That turned everyone's attention to him. Some gasped. They had the exactly same face. They were... Twins. The same eyes. The same nose. The same lips. Despite their similarities, no one noticed at first, for their coloring were so different. The blood-thirsty one had dark blue eyes. His twin's were dark red. Chika's skin was a bit tanned, while the other was more pale. Their hair, even though they styled it the same way (only in opposite sides), to stick to the back of their necks, seemed so different. Chika's were blood-red while his twin's were chilling black.

"Kumi." Chika replied. "You smell it too, don't you? The stink of this human presence! It's disgusting!"

"Chika." His twin- Kumi- repeated. "Stop causing trouble for our generous hosts." He leaned to whisper something in Chika's ear. Most of the other staff in the Bath-House, and even Yubaba didn't hear a word, but Haku, with his extraordinary dragon powers, heard every word. "Besides, if they ARE hiding a human, it would have been gotten rid of already, one way or another." A simple phrase, only 16 words, but it was the most disturbing sentence Haku had heard in his long, LONG life.

Chika pondered. Apparently, he had come to the same conclusion. He grinned contently and moved on.

"I will now lead you to your baths." Yubaba repeated.

"Please." The leader-looking one said.

Yubaba gestured for all the other staff to return to their posts, except for the select few that were chosen to serve the 'Numbers'.

"They're kinda stuck-up, aren't they?" Rin whispered angrily to Haku, as they both followed Yubaba and the Numbers. At that, all the numbers glanced towards the two of them, all with different facial expressions. Some anger, some amused and even surprise.

"You dare speak to us like that, and some of our hot-heads just might decide you aren't worth living." A spikey-haired and muscled Number said.

"What are you talking about, Takito, you ARE the one with the hottest temper amongst us." Deiran grinned.

"Hey! Gonbei and Tesuki, or even Chika has a quicker temper than me!" Takito defended.

"That's not true." The one with the silver hair, the 'Happy-Go-Lucky' one said, laughing. "Gonbei's temper may be nastier, but yours is quicker. And Tesuki doesn't get mad unless he is insulted directly... And what Chika has is called BLOODLUST, not anger."

"That is true, indeed." Their leader agreed. Nikane giggled.

Suddenly, Chika raised his head and looked directly at Haku. Then he smirked.

"You still haven't been freed again, I see. Even though you have somehow managed to gain your name back."

"That's right." Haku replied coldly.

"Why the h-"

"Like I said last time, I have my reasons that are none of your business. You shouldn't be so nosy, ELEVENTH." was the sarcastic reply. Beside him, Rin was frowning, looking back and forth between Chika and Haku.

"Do you guys know each other?" She asked, puzzled.

"Do we know each other?" Chika laughed. "Only too well!"

"That is enough, Chika." Kumi repeated. "Stop teasing Kohaku." He nodded towards the dragon. "I am truly sorry about my immature brother's actions. I am sure that you have your own reasons for staying."

"No harm done." Haku said stiffly.

While walking along, Rin bombarded Haku with questions.

"How the HELL did you get acquainted with the NUMBERS? I mean, barely ANYONE knows them in person! Haku,-"

"Quiet!" Haku snarled. He was trying to find Chihiro using his magic, but he found that he couldn't. It was like... She stopped existing. He hoped that it meant she was far, FAR away from here. Then he looked up and sighed. "I'm sorry. I was just looking for-" He glanced around and observed that he was being closely watched, even though the 'Number's eyes were all facing the front. "You know. The little kitty I picked up earlier."

Rin's senses might not be sensitive as the dragon, but she was just as quick witted. She caught the hint. "Oh." Said she. "So where IS that little beast?"

"Hmm. I actually don't know. I can't seem to sense it. It must be out playing." Was Haku's subtle reply.

"You keep a CAT?" Chika asked.

"What of it?"

"You and cats... Just don't match." Chika said, shrugging.

"It's true." Kumi backed him up, like all good older twin brothers should.

"But anyway," Said Rin, changing the subject, "How DO you know one of the Numbers?"

"You should know them too. Or HEARD of them, at least." Haku said. "Kumi and Chika, they are better known as 'Life and Death'."

"THE Life and Death." Chika corrected him, grinning.

"The blacksmiths?" Rin said on disbelief.

"The one and only." Kumi and Chika said in perfect synchrony.

"B... But..." Rin stuttered.

"And I had the PLEASURE to acquaint them when they agreed to make me a sword." Haku said sarcastically.

"B... But..." Rin was speechless, for once.

"Yes, milady?" The leader-looking one said, as the four realized that the procession had been stopped and everyone was listening to their conversation. "Go on, ask them whatever you'd like to know. They won't bite, you know."

Encouraged by his warm(?) smile, Rin managed to choke out one word; "Really?"

"Yes." Chika replied, rolling his eyes.

"I meant, are you two RELLY THE most talented and famous blacksmiths, Life and Death?"

"Yup." Chika said again.

"B... But... You CAN'T be!" Rin shouted. "The 'Numbers' are the group of FIGHTERS! WARRIORS! How can two BLACKSMITHS join their ranks?"

Kumi and Chika looked bored, like they heard this line at least a hundred times. "What do you think we do with the swords we make?" They asked.

"Sell them?" Rin guessed. "In enormous sums, too! I've been trying to get my hands on some daggers by the legendary Life and Death, but the prices are too high. WAY too high."

"We are glad that you like our products so much." Kumi said, formally but annoyed. He probably said THIS line a hundred times before, too. "But anyway. As you stated, our weaponry and such ARE indeed sold. But the in the process of making them, we actually SPAR with the new weaponry, to make sure that they are balanced, comfortable, durable and-."

"-To ensure that we keep the tip-top quality." Chika finished the sentence.

"Now, if your questions are all answered, let us press on." The leader said.

As the line moved, Haku leaned, even though he hated to, towards Chika.

"Who is that guy?" He asked. "The one with the straight dark blond hair. Is he your leader?"

"Ask him yourself." Deiran butted in. "He won't mind."

"Yeah." Another one, one with straight magenta hair, said. "That guy just LOVES attention." He rolled his eyes. "It's not easy, being his twin."

"Not as hard as being HIS twin." Kumi said, gesturing towards Chika. "He just LOVES to pick a fight with people. Don't you, Chika?"

"Yeah." Chika shrugged. "But not as much as YOU."

"Eeh? How so?" Nikane asked. "Kumi's one of the politest people I've ever seen."

"Seconded." Said the silver-head, raising his hand.

"True. USUALY he acts all goody-goody, but in his head..."

"Enough, Chika. You just want to ruin my reputation." Kumi frowned. "I'm a gentleman. I wouldn't do such a thing."

"Su-re, you are." Chika laughed.

"HI!" The silver-head suddenly waved at Haku and Rin, like he hasn't noticed the two if then standing there the whole time. "Haven't seen YOU TWO before! You're Haku and Rin, right?"

"And you are?" Haku asked.

"My name is Yne! Of the Twelfth Number! A half of it, anyway." He said, as he glanced at the girl beside him, with long, pure golden hair, a beautiful face and a vicious look. "And that's Lian, my PARTNER." He said this in a WEIRD way, like he didn't really want to be his partner.

"Stop dragging me into your random introductions, dummy." Lian complained. Then he turned to Haku. "In case you're getting WEIRD ideas, I am a GUY."

Rin and Haku took a step back.

"No way." They stared. Magenta-hair and Yne burst out laughing. Lian fumed.

"So you were BOTH having WEIRD ideas about me, huh!" He glared, then smiled in some hypnotized way. Like a blind man looking at the sun for the first time. Like a man thinking of his fiancee. "Sorry, but I'm taken. By the most beautiful, smart, and strong woman in history of forever."

"Nuh-Uh you aren't! She's MINE and you know it!" Yne cried out.

"Well too bad for BOTH of you, we won't give her to the likes of YOU!" Kumi and Chika shouted in synchrony.

"I think my TWIN likes her too." Magenta-hair (the leader's twin) said.

"No way!" the four of them whipped around. "It's not true, right?"

"What do you mean, WEIRD?" Rin shouted randomly. "The only idea I had about you is that you look like a frikin' GIRL!" (Remember a few sentences ago Lian called her and Haku weird?)

"Like I said," Takito butted in, "It's not smart to pick a fight with the 'Numbers', lady." Then he grinned. "But I congratulate you, for being so random. You certainly look like the type to hold a grudge." Rin 'Hummp'ed.

"And for your information," An old man said to Haku. He had a wrinkly face with white hair and a mean face. The kind of grandpa who'll shoo children out of his lawn (or was it grandmas?) "That CHILD is NOT our leader. Not while Gonbei here is still living." He said as he gestured towards the dark-blond hair.

"Ninth." The mentioned blond said. "I appreciate you calling me a 'child'." He said, sarcastically.

"Thirteenth." Gonbei replied.

"Greetings, River Dragon." The Thirteenth now turned towards Haku. "My name is Hirako. Of the Thirteenth Number, of course.."

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Same here."

Haku observed the man- barely in his twenties, outwardly, at least. There was this heavy aura around him, separating him from the others. The old man- Gonbei of the Ninth Number- might not admit it, but it seemed that the Numbers had an unspoken agreement of having HIM as the leader.

"And I believe you already met my younger twin brother, Tesuki of the First Number." He said, smiling towards his younger brother, only to be answered with a growl by the latter.

"Ooh! Me! I want to introduce myself too!" An old woman said, jumping up and down with her wrinkly hand raised. It was a disturbing sight, even in a spirit's point of view. An old, OLD with snow white hair jumping around like a little kid.

"Go ahead, Ata-Chan." Said Hirako, like a teacher asking his student a question. Except that 'Ata-Chan' was old enough to be Hirako's GRANDMOTHER.

"Okay!" The 'Ata-Chan' said, striking a cheerleader pose, forcing everyone to look away. "Well, my name is Atane of the Fourth Number! But you guys can call me Ata-Chan! AND," she winked and wiggled her fingers at the male staff members, including Haku. "I'm currently SINGLE 3." This made everyone, except Hirako, Nikane and the two old and older ladies who haven't spoken a word yet (they seemed used to this), gag in disgust. "So good luck to all of you... If you're lucky, you might be able to spend the night with me 3" The looks on their faces clearly stated that NO ONE wanted to spend the night with this ancient lady.

"Now, now, sister Atane, you mustn't scare the staff members." Said one of the ladies, the younger one. She looked about forty. "I am sure they would be disorientated by your... Er... Statement."

"OMG, you are absoloou-tely rii-gt!" Atane said, clapping her hands together. "I gotta look cool in front of the guys! You're sooo smart, Enn-Chan!" Then the old lady struck the gangster pose. "Yo. Whassup." She said in her best(?) gangster voice. You know. Just like in those movies... Or real life, in front of high schools smoking cigars. Yeah. Seems natural, like they were born to puff smokes like Haku (Get it? 'Cause he's a dragon. An OLD dragon) and wear heavy fake gold chains. Now, imagine a super-old lady, almost a hundred years old, doing exactly that. Yup. That was the reaction all staff members had, as Atane started imitating smoking with her 'imaginary' cigar.

"I am terribly sorry about Sister Atane's behavior." The younger lady- Enn-Chan- said, bowing deeply. "But it is her nature to be so, so the sisterhood begs your forgiveness in advance."

"A... Nun?" Rin whispered to Haku. "They're really a strange group of people. Blacksmiths... Nuns... The next thing YOU know, there'll be SLAVES amongst them."

"Yes, dear sister. A nun, of sorts. But not exactly, I'm afraid." Enn-Chan said, facing Rin. "And Brother Batanavi of the Sixth Number actually HAS been a slave once." She said, gesturing to the little(?) fifteen year old who had curling light green hair and was trying to hide behind Nikane of the Second Number. A futile attempt, considering the petite girl was a good ten inches shorter than him.

"H... Hello." He said, embarrassed, continuing his attempts to hide. "I... I'm sorry!" He squeaked as he pulled on Nikane's long hair by accident. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for my clumsiness! Oh, I'm so stupid! But y... You knew that already... I'm sorry!"

"He's a little clumsy." Nikane explained. "And he was made fun of because of it. So now he keeps apologizing for everything he does. It may be a little annoying, but please bear with it."

"I'm sorry I'm annoying!" Batanavi squeaked.

"It's alright, Navi-Chan!" (Guess who said this...) "Everyone can be a little annoying sometimes!"

Haku was no Deiran, with the ability to listen to people's minds, but he was sure that at that moment, everyone thought the same thing. 'With you, it's not just a LITTLE annoying!' Atane seemed oblivious.

"So-" Said Yne, desperately trying to change the subject away from Atane. "Come to think of it, you never did introduce yourself, Enn-Chan."

"Oh my!" She gasped. "How very rude of me!" Then she curtsied gracefully like a noble western gentlewoman she is. "Greetings. My name is Enchiro. Enchiro of the Fifth number. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"And now," the other old lady- who was as old as Atane, if not older- said, "If you're all done with these introductions, can't we proceed to our baths? I came here to relax, not chat."

"And may I ask YOUR name, LOVELY LADY?" Asked Deiran, sarcastically. The woman snorted.

"Ve-ry funny, Deiran."

"Come now, it won't be so bad to introduce yourself." Hirako said.

"If YOU say so." The old lady shrugged, bored already. "My name is Rinato, for this who care."

"And your Number?" Takito encouraged.

"The Third." was the curt reply.

"Good." Hirako said. "Now, let us FINALLY move on."

"Lets go!" Kumi and Chika said together. Then the reached out to grab something, almost instinctively, and draw it towards the two of them. But their hands grasped on thin air and fell to their sides. Haku, walking beside them, could see identical emotions flashing past their eyes. First confusion. Then disbelief. Fear. Panic. And finally, rage.

"Stop." They commanded. All joking and happy air their voices held before had vanished. There was only rage. Ice cold against burning fire. The perfect harmony. The marching stopped. There was something in their voices that made made most of them shiver in fear. "Where are you hiding her?"

"What's wrong, Kumi, Chika?" Hirako asked, as any good leader would.

"You have her, don't you." Again, the chillingly-cold voice of Kumi and burning-heat tone of Chika made most flinch.

"Who do they have?" Hirako asked in a tense voice. But Haku could tell that Hirako already knew the answer. The answer that he feared. But the response that came out of their lips were not at all what he expected.

**"X I V." They responded. "Our little sister. She's gone."**


	5. List of the Numbers

Introducing... The Numbers! (with short descriptions)

Here we go...!

* * *

**The Numbers (In Roman Numerals)**

1 - Tesuki- Hirako of the Thirteenth Number's little twin brother, but #1 hates him. Sharp tonged. Cannot stand insults.

2 - Nikane- The kind little girl. #2 adores animals. The 'teacher's pet' type. She's cute.

3 - Rinato- Bored lady. Very old fashioned. #3 ikes traditional stuff.

4 - Atane- An 'enthusiastic(?)' old lady. A little TOO enthusiastic, maybe.

5 - Enchiro- Nice middle aged lady. #5's like a mother to the bunch of them.

6 - Batanavi- Clumsy little guy. His never-ending apologies may be a little annoying, but he's cute, like a little helpless bunny rabbit.

7 - Deiran- A play-boy. Feminine looks, like a bishie (bishouen). There's no girl that can resist his charm! (except the one he actually likes- Obviously.)

8 - Takito- an aggressive spiky-hair. Likes to pick fights with everyone; enjoys beating them up 'till they can't move then just... Leave...

9 - Gonbei- Old grumpy old man. #9 absolutely hates taking orders from youngsters.

10 - ? (Missing)- A solitary, heartless killer.

11 - Kumi & Chika- A pair of twin blacksmiths AKA Life and Death. They both like to kill people on a whim. They, unlike Takito of the Eighth Number, they like to... 'Finish what they've started'.

12 - Yne & Lian- They share no blood relation whatsoever. Yne is happy-go-lucky, while Lian is easily annoyed. They only have one thing in common; The girl they both like. So they're basically rivals, if not enemies.

13 - Hirako- The unofficial Leader of this strange group of people. He likes human things, even if he detests humans themselves. He kills considerable amounts of them, too.

14 - ?- Blood-lusting psychopathic killer.

15 - ? & ? (Missing)- A married couple, the husband is the mastermind behind the plans and the wife is the killer.

* * *

**18 Members**

**3 Missing...**

**Who's YOUR favorite? XD**


	6. Your Tears Will Dry Someday I Hope

**Chapter 5; Your tears will dry someday... I hope.**

"Quickly! We have to search every single corners of the Bath-House!"

"Geez." Some lazy toad said. "They are supposed to be the GREATEST spirits of all. But now everyone's helping them because they lost a little GIRL. They didn't even notice when she just walked away from them. How pitiful."

"Yeah." Agreed his friend. "Y'know, EVERYONE's looking for this girl. Even Yubaba and Haku. They even ordered the customers to do it. Such a bother. Why can't they just use their POWERFUL MAGIC to track her down, I mean, it's just one little snot-nosed kid. And they're supposed to be the BEST."

"That's true." A voice said from behind them, dangerously sweet. "We indeed ARE the best. But like we told you a hundred times already, this girl happens to be an expert at hiding her presence. No tracking magic will work on her. Do you know why?" The Number asked the frightened and ugly toads. "We all have our proper jobs, froggy. Kumi and Chika are blacksmiths. Enchiro is a Nun. I, myself, am a librarian. But do you know what this 'little girl' is?" He asked, smiling coyly. When the frightened toads shook their heads in response, he answered. "She is an assassin. The only one of us numbers who has a job that involves KILLIG. Even amongst a group of famous warriors like us. You see now why it is necessary for her to hide her presence." Deiran of the Seventh Number grinned. A dangerous aura surrounded him, as the grin turned into a sickeningly sweet and frightening smile. "And I wouldn't bad-mouth XIV in front of most Numbers. They are all VERY fond of her you know. They would kill you the second you insult her name."

"And d... Does that in... Include you?" The braver one of the two toads asked.

The smile turned even sweeter.

"Of course it does."

The last thing those two saw was an angry flash of marine blue.

"So your brothers are twins who came to the bath house." Chihiro repeated.

"To take a bath." Affirmed ZaKura.

"What else do you do in a Bath-House?" Hirako rolled his eyes.

"Sleep with women." Was the little girl's immediate reply. "Or men." She grinned.

"I... I see." Stuttered Chihiro, thrown off by the girl's straightforwardness.

"And I'm just warning you, sis," The little girl said with twinkling eyes while pulling on Chihiro's sleeve, "I'm gonna kill ANYONE who sleeps with my brothers. Or Master. Or Yne" She frowned. "But Lian and Deiran can sleep with anyone they like. I won't care."

"Your Master?" Chihiro asked. "Yne? Lian? Deiran? Who are these people, ZaKura?"

"Yne is my be-st friend in the whole wide world!" She exclaimed. "And Lian and Deiran is my friends, too. But they're annoying playboys." She pouted. "I HATE playboys."

"Well," Chihiro said, a little creeped out by the girl's statement about killing, which she said so casually. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Heh. Are you SURE you're capable of killing? Those wrists look awfully thin to me." Hirako sneered.

"Oh yeah?" ZaKura said, glaring. "Wanna try me?" Then she whipped her hand towards the river. Before she knew it, Chihiro saw a knife embedded in a wooden post of the bridge. And stuck on the knife was a fish, flapping weakly. Chihiro squinted, ad saw that it WASN'T a knife, after all. It was a pair of scissors.

"Impressive." Hirako glared. "But I never told you to kill one of my fish."

"Oh? Alright then." ZaKura flicked a finger towards her, and the scissors came flying towards her. She caught it and hid it in her sleeve. The bleeding fish was sent plummeting towards the water, but before it reached it, a bunch of other fish, smelling blood, jumped and tore it apart.

"Ah. It got eaten." ZaKura commented lightly. "Oh well. It was just a fish."

"You." Hirako growled and grabbed her neck. He started to choke her. "YOU."

"He... Hey st... Stop! That hurts!" The little girl cried.

"Hirako!" Chihiro screamed. But before she could do anything, Hirako was thrown off his feet and splashed into the water.

"How. Dare. You." Came a growl... Of two voices. "You filth. You don't you dare touch our little sister.

Her brothers have found her, after all.

"XIV." Suddenly, there was a great gust of wind, And Chihiro noticed that they were surrounded.

"What the heck were you doing?" Amongst the people, a silver-haired boy came rushing to the front. "Do you have ANY idea how how hard it was to find y-" Then he came to a stop. He turned, very slowly, toward Chihiro. His eyes turned from chocolate brown to a frightening shade of silver. Chihiro took a step back. Not that it would help if he decided to kill her.

"Well well well." He grinned in some sadistic, cruel way. "Chika was right, after all." He started to walk towards her, slowly. Like a lion stalking it's prey."Lookie what we've got here. A stinking, dumb HUMAN."

"St... Stop. Don't come any closer." Chihiro tried to sound brave. But she couldn't keep the involuntary trembling. Everything inside of her screamed to run away. But she stood her ground.

"Ooh. Scary." He mocked. "I'm so scared."

"Stop." A familiar voice came.

"Haku!" Chihiro gasped in relief. "Rin!"

"Back away, bastard." The tall spirit woman snarled.

"Do you want to die alongside the human, Rin?" Yne asked.

"Hmm. Kohaku. I should've guessed." Chika said. "So THIS is the reason you couldn't leave. How... Interesting."

"Indeed." Added Kumi. "So if we get rid of this filth, you would be able to leave this place you hate so much. Correct?"

"Oh my. Please make it clean. We wouldn't want to taint this lovely establishment." Nikane chimed in, taking a step back.

"Make it quick." Said Rinato, already bored.

"Yay! Human-Hunting!" Atane cheered, throwing her arms up.

"ZaKura! Your feet! You must be freezing!" Fussed Lian, not caring about Chihiro all, like she was some bug they just had to squish.

"Really?" Yne said casually, but dangerously. "So you DARE to kidnap ZaKura, take her shoes, make her go in the freezing water, then try to choke her to death. For a human, you sure are bold. And dumb." He crouched, tensing to pounce. "I'll make you regret the Day you laid your dirty hands on MY ZaKura." He glanced at Hirako (The Animal Guardian.) "First the human, then you."

"But we didn't kidnap her!" Chihiro cried stubbornly. "We just FOUND her! That's not a crime, is it?"

"Is it?" Yne asked back, grinning. "Sorry, girly, but we're gods, not the police. Crime or no crime, if you displease us, you're dead."

"Don't kill Chihiro." ZaKura said in a tiny voice, sandwiched between her twin brothers. "She's nice."

"But she's a human!" Whined Yne.

ZaKura thought for a bit. "But she's almost like a..." She looked up at her brothers. "Whats the word again?"

"Enemy?" Lian suggested.

"No... The F word... Fre... Fren... De"

"Friend?" Lian protested. "Come on, be serious!"

"I am." ZaKura frowned.

"Hmm." Yne said. "So you managed to take advantage of her, eh, human?" He asked, as he kicked Chihiro, making her cry out in pain. Haku rushed towards her, but Takito pushed him away and grabbed him. Haku struggled against the hold, but the strength of the Number lived up to it's reputation. It was impossible to break free.

"Don't touch her!" Hirako attacked, so fast that Chihiro's eyes could not follow. But it was useless. Yne just grabbed his outstretched wrist and threw him to the ground. Hirako kicked him off. Yne regained balance midair and kicked off from thin air. He tackled the petit boy, and of course, in terms of structure and experience, Yne was far more superior. But Hirako, being a prideful spirit, would not give in without a fight. He threw in fast and well-aimed punches at Yne's stomach.

"You little-" Yne growled, no longer playing around, and raised his hand. This time, Chihiro saw, the punch was different from all others. The air around his fist was vibrating and some silvery light was shining from it.

"Hirako!" she screamed in desperation.

"Come again?" Yne hesitated, his shining fist just inches away from Hirako's face. "WHAT did you just call him?"

"Hirako. That's his NAME, isn't it?" She said as she waited for Hirako to take that chance, when his attacker was distracted, to push him away. But the Animal Guardian didn't. He just shook his head furiously at Chihiro.

"Truly?" Another spirit stepped up, this time a blond one. He looked similar to Haku, with straight bob cut and all, but the way he held himself was different. Haku had this... Natural grace and elegance, while this guy was stiff and business like. His movements also seemed a little restrained, too.

"Yes. What's so weird about it?"

"Well." The blond thought. "My name also happens to be Hirako, also."

"A mere coincidence." Chihiro insisted. "It happens all the time."

"Not a chance." The strange man said. "There is a rule in the spirit world about that, you know. In the rare occasion that a human or any other race joins the spirit world, they need a new name. And that name cannot be that of another spirit if he or she still lives." He grinned.

"And that," yet another spirit- Deiran- added. "Is why you had to change your name from Chihiro to Sen when you came here."

"How do you know my name?" Chihiro exclaimed, surprised.

"Your mind betrays all." The feminine boy said in a sing-song voice.

"So." The second Hirako spoke again. "The only conclusion we can draw from THAT is that this Animal Guardian," He poked Hirako's cheek with his sandal-ed foot. "Is lying about his name."

Chihiro gasped. He was kidding, right? There was no way that the look on Hirako's eyes were GUILT, right? Hirako wouldn't lie to HER, RIGHT?

"What's your name, Guardian? What made you so desperate as to use MY name for your fake pretense?" The second Hirako asked, squatting next to the imprisoned boy, And grabbing his face with one hand. "ANSWER ME!"

Hirako- or whatever his REAL name was, grumbled something.

"Sorry, what did you say?" The sec- no. HIRAKO asked.

"Hibari." The ex-Hirako sighed. "Now let go of my face."

But he didn't even need to say that. At the mention of his name, Hirako let go of his face like it had burned him. Yne, who was restraining him, also jumped off Hira- Hibari's back and stuttered back a few steps. Suddenly, every Number seemed to be shrinking... In FEAR. Furious whispers came amongst them.

"Impossible." Deiran whispered in disbelief. "That can't be true."

"He's lying." Kumi and Chika said, as they hugged ZaKura even closer to them. "TELL US THE TRUTH VERMIN!"

"It is the truth." Hibari growled, as he lightly stood up again. "My name IS Hibari."

"Dieran? Atane?" Hirako asked. His voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with well-disguised terror.

"He's telling the truth." Atane said gravely, unlike her usual joking self. Dieran nodded in affirmation. "The mind does not lie."

"What's wrong, Kumi?" ZaKura asked innocently. "What's wrong with Hibari's name? I think it's a nice name."

"Nothing, my Dear." Kumi gently caressed her cheek with his trembling hand. "Nothing at all."

"Aren't your feet cold, Dearest?" Chika asked gently, a tone directly contrary to his usual violent and blood-thirsty self. "Why don't you go inside with your... Err... FRIEND."

"Hmm?" ZaKura asked. "Ah. Okay. If you say so, Chika." Then she held out her hand to Chihiro. "Let's go, sis."

Chihiro glanced at Haku. He nodded encouragingly.

"Okay." Chihiro said. As stubborn as she was, she wasn't dumb enough to let a chance to escape this scene just pass by. "Let's go."

/./

Haku was relieved to see Chihiro go, for once. Sure, she was hand-in-hand with a Number, but the little girl seemed harmless, save for the fact that most of the other Numbers seemed to do whatever she wanted, even if it killed them.

"Haku." Chika said. His usual 'Wanna die?' tone was back. "So, tell us. Who is this vermin, really?"

"Why ask me?" Haku said coolly. Takito let go, now that Chihiro was out of sight. "I was never close to him, as I'm sure you already know."

"True." Deiran replied lightly. "But you are Yubaba's assistant. You MUST know SOMETHING. There isn't a point of lying." He smirked. "You thought that we would do ANYTHING for XIV, right? Yes, that is true. But same goes for the opposite, as well. If Kumi and Chika calls her..." Haku narrowed his eyes. So there was a reason they'd sent Chihiro with the girl. "She'll come, faster then the speed of light. WITH your little human GIRLFRIEND."

"Fine." Haku said. "But first." He paused. "I want to know the connection between your little sister," He indicated to Kumi and Chika, "And the name 'Hibari'."

"Losers can't be choosers." Atane thrilled.

"Oh, really?" Rin stepped up. But Batanavi, hiding right next to her, stumbled (No one knows why) and fell, flat, his face on Haku's feet. The expression on Haku's face was a weird mix of disgust, pity, and amusement.

"I'm sorry!" Batanavi said as he stood up and spit put a mouthful of water (Remember that they are all standing on top of the river). "I'm so clumsy! What should I do? Should I wash your feet for you? Or should I-"

"Enough." Haku said. "You don't need to do anything."

"Really?" Asked Batanavi, his eyes as round as plates.

"Really." Assured Haku.

"Okay..." Batanavi said, uneasy. He wasn't used to people not taking advantage of him. "But if there's anything I can do-"

"Don't be so willing to serve your enemies, Batanavi." Cautioned Tesuki.

"Well, Batanavi," Haku started, "I suppose you CAN do something for me."

"Name it." The curly-haired, simple-minded boy said.

"Tell me about ZaKura, Hibari, and the Numbers."

"As you wish." The boy replied. "Now... Where should I start?"

"How about telling him about the XIV first?" Nikane suggested.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Nikane." He turned toward Haku, and indicated for him to sit down. As the dragon did so, all the other Numbers and Rin sat down as well, making a circle with Haku and Hibari at the middle. Batanavi, of course, stumbled, but managed to sit down without sticking his head in the water. "Now. How much do you know about the numbers?"

"Not much." Haku replied. "Only what the rumors say."

"How many Numbers?"

"Fifteen."

"Pairs?"

"Three."

"Good." Batanavi nodded. "That's the important stuff. Now, as you can see, not all Numbers are present in this moment."

"The Tenth, Fourteenth and the Fifteenth Numbers are missing." Tesuki added in.

"The Fourteenth Number. He's quite well known, you know." Batanavi said.

"Yes." Haku agreed. "The one said to be the best killer amongst the Numbers. The cruel, heartless, and sadistic one."

"Exact." Enchiro nodded.

"But he was said to have been missing, no?"

"Indeed, that WAS the case." Hirako said. "A thousand years ago."

"What do you mean?" Haku frowned.

"There is several crucial facts you are missing, in order to understand the complete story." Hirako said. "But weather or not we should tell them to you..."

"Not many people know of it, you know." Rinato added.

"Why are you hesitating to tell it?" Haku questioned.

"Well," Deiran started. "Everyone thinks the 'Numbers' are strong and almighty, not knowing the meaning of 'loss'." He shrugged. "They'd be so disappointed when they learn that even the Numbers have fought an un-imaginably terrible and one-sided battle, and suffered the huge consequences for losing."

"So that's it." Haku smirked. "You want to keep your high-thrones."

"That is quite the nasty way to say it, but YES." Tesuki answered. "We wouldn't want the Spirits rebelling against us, now do we?"

"That is sick." Rin commented. "What do you think we, the spirits are?"

"Tools." All fourteen Numbers replied at the same time. "For us to take advantage of." Haku and Rin growled.

"I see." Hibari said. "You have no intention of telling us." Takito smirked. "Then I would just have to ask your precious little SISTER." The Numbers' faces froze, their superior smirks fading, being slowly replaced by looks of well-disguised fear. "Since she's OBVIOUSLY one of you, she must know as well. And I don't think she cares about your REPUTATION as much as you do." As he said that, he took a step toward the Bath-House. But suddenly, Kumi and Chika came out of nowhere to block his path. "DON'T YOU DARE." they growled.

"So." Hibari grinned. "Will you tell us yourself, or will I go ask ZaKura?"

"Alright." Hirako growled, a soft, almost threatening sound. "Just don't mention it in front of XIV."

"This seems like an inconvenient spot to talk." Dieran suggested mildly. "How about we go up to the Bath-House? I'm starting to get a little cold."

"Great idea!" Atane cheered. "Let's go!"

Haku saw through their tactic. They saw that Haku, Hibari and Rin would not stop pursuing the truth, so they would go up to the Bath-House, so that they could be closer to their hostage. Closer to Chihiro.

But Haku knew, that tactic was a double-edged sword. They may be closer to THEIR hostage, but Haku, Hibari and Rin had a 'Hostage' of their own. Surely they could not have overlooked this. They were just betting on getting there faster than the three of them. They had the advantage in terms of numbers. But when it came down to speed, Haku was sure the three would not be inferior. They were, after all, stronger than your average spirit.

/./

"ZaKura," Chihiro asked. "Those two over there were your brothers?"

"Yup!" ZaKura said, as they skipped along the corridor, hand in hand, to Chihiro's room."I told you, they look very different and they're very very nice, didn't I? I told you so!"

Chihiro didn't say it out loud, but she thought that if she and Hiram-no, Hibari, had gone to look for ZaKura's brothers, they never would've found them. First of all, they looked EXACTLY alike, and they weren't all that nice, she thought.

"And the silver hair back there is Yne!" ZaKura grinned. "He's my best friend ever! Isn't he so cool?"

"Yeah." Chihiro said. 'So cool. He tried to kill me and Hibari.' She thought.

"And you saw Master too!" ZaKura gasped. "Y'know. Master Hirako." She grinned. "I'm his appa-ran-teece."

"You mean apprentice?" Chihiro corrected gently.

"Yes." The little girl nodded.

"So is there is the rule? About the name, I mean." Chihiro asked.

"Yup." ZaKura affirmed.

'That all makes sense, I suppose.' Chihiro thought. 'But WHY did HAKU call him Hirako as well?'

'Because he was listening to your conversation earlier.' Said a little voice inside her head. Strange yet familiar. The voice Chihiro was waiting for all along.

'The Fate!'

"Whats wrong, Chihiro?" ZaKura asked, concerned.

"Nothing." Gasped Chihiro, trying to keep her face straight and her voice normal.

'Su-re it's nothing.' whispered the Fate, laughing cruelly.

"Are you sure? You look like you just saw a ghost." ZaKura frowned. "Who is it? I can get rid of him for you, if you'd like."

'What a trustworthy friend you've got there, Chihiro.' Cackled the Fate mockingly. 'As if she'd be a match to me!'

"No, thank you. I'm just fine." Said Chihiro, despite the throbbing pain n her chest. "This is my room." She gestured to the big room, where she and Rin slept, along with the other girls. It was empty at the moment, it was work hours.

Well, almost.

"YOOUUU!" Yubaba caught on fire, much like the situation six-years before, Chihiro supposed, when her baby went missing. Haku had told her all about it. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THE BATH-HOUSE! BECAUSE YOU WENT AND GOT YOURSELF FOUND, THE NUMBERS WON'T COME ANYMORE! YOU LITTLE PIG! I WILL SERVE THEM YOUR PARENTS FOR DINNER TONIGHT!"

"Chill, granny, we never said we weren't gonna come anymore." ZaKura said, smirking. "Whoever told you that kind of lie?"

"And YOU, insolent BRAT!" Yubaba turned her flaming self at ZaKura. "YOU HAD TO GO AND GET YOURSELF LOST, SO THAT EVERYONE, EVEN MY CUSTOMERS HAD TO LOOK EVERYWHERE FOR YOU! WE LOST OUR CREDIBILITY BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"Do I care?" ZaKura smirked, an expression contrary to the innocent, childish look she always has. Suddenly, she looked a lot more older.

"YOU LITTLE-" Yubaba went for her throat. But this time, ZaKura didn't just stand there, waiting for her to try and choke the life out of her like Hibari did.

"I said CHILL, you old bat." ZaKura growled, as she reached out and touched, with the tips of her fingers, the palm of Yubaba's outstretched hand. And passed through it. Chihiro couldn't believe her eyes. Yubaba passed through ZaKura like she wasn't even there. Yubaba stumbled before regaining her balance. She frowned.

"You're a ghost?" She asked, puzzled but still angry.

"No." ZaKura gave her a satisfied smirk. "I just don't want to touch a filthy witch like you. My brothers will get mad if I did." It was true that she was not a ghost. Chihiro was holding hands with her right now. She was quite solid, as Chihiro squeezed her hand to confirm again.

The witch growled some strange words. Then, as if she fueled them, the flame around her grew. Chihiro felt the heat, the rage. The fire had become alive, a monster.

"Impressive, for a filthy witch, no?" ZaKura asked Chihiro. Chihiro, who knew very little about magic, just nodded.

"YOU BRAT!" Yubaba yelled, and charged a second time.

"The shadow-method won't work this time, not against a Rage-Fire." ZaKura commented cheerfully, not on the least afraid.

"So will you die?" Asked Chihiro, lacking ZaKura's coolness and cheerfulness. But even to her own ears, the question sounded quite stupid.

'It WAS stupid.' The Fate said inside her head. Chihiro jumped, for she had completely forgotten about her.

"Of course not." ZaKura rolled her eyes. "My brothers will hate me if I die." She smiled angelically. Then, when she opened her eyes again, Chihiro gasped. BOTH of her eyes had turned bright, frightening red. The color of blood. She turned to the flaming Yubaba. She raised her right hand, as if trying to salute, military-style, at Yubaba.

"Don't." For the second time, there was a great swish, and Chihiro was surrounded by the Numbers. This time, they weren't forming a circle around them. They seemed to be... Restraining ZaKura. Nikane, Enchiro and Rinato had moved Yubaba to the back of the room. Kumi and Chika was restraining ZaKura from behind. Yne and Lian were grabbing her raised hand. Hirako had come face to face with her, blocking Yubaba out of ZaKura's view. The others had formed a wall separating Yubaba and ZaKura.

"ZaKura, Darling, Chika and I will be quite mad if you killed this woman." Kumi whispered into Zakura's ears.

"But Kumi-"

"No. We all know this woman is a bad witch, but that doesn't mean we have to kill her." Chika murmured.

"Chihiro." Came a voice behind her, and she found that Haku, Rin and Hibari were there as well.

"What was she about to do?" Whispered Chihiro.

"The Death Salute." Haku said grimly.

"What's that?" Rin asked, not lowering her guard.

"I don't know. It is said to be an attack used by assassins when they get discovered. The success rate is extremely low. If you fail, you die. If you succeed, it is a deadly spell that kills all your enemies, AND enables you to disappear, without a trace, to any location you desire." Haku bit his lip. "The thing is, even if you do it once, it's not guaranteed that you can do it again. That's why it is used as a last resort. It requires tremendous amount of energy and skill."

"SHE tried to do that?" Rin asked, astonished. "THAT little thing?"

"Heyy!" ZaKura pouted at her. "I've got a name, you know."

"ZaKura." Hirako frowned. "How many times do we have to tell you; Do NOT use this magic so casually!"

"B... But!"

"No 'But's." Hirako said firmly. "Say sorry to Chihiro now."

"Eh?" Chihiro said, puzzled. "Why? It's not like she tried to kill me, anyway."

"Sorry, Chihiro." ZaKura said with childish sincerity. "I'm glad I didn't kill you."

"Wh... What?" Chihiro gasped, realizing that she had, once again, avoided death by the skin of her neck.

"The 'Death Salute' is quite messy, you see. You might have caught a piece of it which is, obviously, fatal." Deiran explained with a shrug.

"I'm sorry." ZaKura repeated, like a kid who've done something wrong. Well, she WAS a kid, technically, and she DID do something wrong, technically.

"Don't do it again." Kumi said, smiling warmly. Then, after ZaKura smiled back, he finally turned to Yubaba. "You, witch." His eyes were no longer warm. They were icy again. "You are no longer needed. You even tried to harm our little sister." His eyes narrowed.

"For now, we will leave it just with a warning, but the next time..." Chika grinned maniacally.

"Let's just hope you don't get to find out." The twins said in perfect synchrony. Yubaba glared and walked out of the room. Even she, the great witch, couldn't do anything against the Numbers.

"Now. About the explination." Hirako said, his lips pursed. "I would like to use the room next door, please." He ordered at Rin. "Rin frowned, but obliged. There was no way she could go against the ones even Yubaba feared.

"You stay here, okay?" Yne said, ruffling ZaKura's hair."

"Be good." Lian added.

"And remember, you are my world." Deiran said, deadly serious(?).

"That was such a cheesy line." ZaKura laughed. Deiran grinned.

"Za... ZaKura... Be s... Safe." Batanavi said, uncertainly.

"You too." ZaKura grinned. "Watch out for those mean hardwood floor."

"Okay." Batanavi said, not recognizing the tease in her words. Deiran and Lian laughed. But ZaKura smiled.

"No, seriously. That mean witch cursed them to whack whoever passes by this hallway."

/./

"Now." Hirako said, once they arrived at the room next door- which was actually only separated from the women's sleeping area by an old fashioned, thick paper sliding door.

"You sure seem to say that a lot." Hibari commented. "Now." As he mimicked Hirako's brisk, business-like manner.

"It's his favorite word." Laughed Tesuki. "You should see him at home! It's 'Now.' this and 'Now.' that!"

"Better than YOUR favorite word!" Hirako glared, almost... CHILDISH, for once. But ALMOST.

"I don't have one!" Tesuki stuck his tongue out at him.

"If you're both done playing!" Rinato grumbled. "Let's get back on the subject."

"It was Mister Hibari who mentioned it first." Nikane said. "Just for the record." She added quickly, as Hibari glanced at her.

"Now. Tell me what you know-" Hirako started, but was interrupted by a;

"You used that line already!" By Kumi and Chika.

"Just shut UP, okay? I can say it however many times as I like!" Hirako finally raised his voice. "Now. We told you there is one crucial fact you were missing, did we not?"

"You did." Rin confirmed.

"Do you know the Fourteenth Number's name? Well... What he was called, anyway." Kumi asked.

"The angel's fate." Hibari said, gravely.

"That's right" Tesuki nodded. "If you can write it down HERE, in English." He handed him a brush and a paper.

"Errr. Alright." Hibari said, puzzled. Rin and Haku leaned to look.

"There." Hibari said, satisfied. The paper read; The angel's fate

"Almost." Deiran said, seizing the brush. "Only a teeny tiny mistake." He looked up. "Did you know that the Fourteenth always wrote 'The(2)S-1' under his name?"

"What's that, algebra?" Rin asked. Even in the spirit world, math existed to annoy the hell out of people.

"Of sorts." Hirako said, tapping the paper with his index finger. Some of the letters magically disappeared without a trace. "The secret is..."

"That the Fourteenth Number was a pair number." Kumi and Chika said together. "He was not a 'He', but a 'They.'"

The paper now read;

The Angel & The Fate.

* * *

**Oooh exciting XD**

**R to the**

**E to the**

**V to the**

**I to the**

**E to the**

**W!**


	7. The Unknown may be our Greatest Enemy

**Chapter 6; The Unknown may be our Greatest Enemy.**

"WHAT?" Gasped Hibari.

"You've seen this before?" Hirako asked sharply.

"N... No... But... The... The Fate? Are you serious?"

"Deadly serious." Kumi said, rolling his eyes.

"So very serious that we could kill you, right here, right now." Chika smirked.

"So. What connection do you have with our lovely Fourteenth?" Nikane asked, curious.

"Lovely?" Lian snorted. "He was hardly 'Lovely', Nikane."

"'Rebelling' is the word I would use on him." Yne said. "Our rebellious Fourteenth."

"He chose to go the wrong way, but he was Lovely." Nikane declared. "Those are two very different things."

"Nikane is right." Atane said. "He was smokin' HOT!"

"It seems like he had all the female Numbers have fallen for him." Deiran laughed.

"Jealous, Number Seven?" Atane asked.

"Of HIM? Never!" Deiran scowled.

"Enough." Hirako ordered. "Now. How do you know that The Fate was a person, not a word?" All the attention turned, once again, to Hibari.

"Will you have Atane and Deiran read my mind if I don't answer?" Hibari shot back.

"We will use any means necessary to obtain the information we seek." Was Hirako's curt answer.

"Fine." Hibari narrowed his eyes. "Someone erased my memories."

"And it was The Fate?" Asked Atane, puzzled. "How do you know, if you lost your memories?"

"Besides, erasing Someone's memories..." Tesuki thought for a bit. "He'd be capable, certainly, but... That's just not his style. That's just not the way The Fate does things."

"Well, SOMEONE had erased my name and branded the words 'The Fate' in my brain!" Hibari shouted, but not loudly enough to be heard form the other room.

"Branded?" Gonbei frowned.

"Every time I try to look at my erased past, that word pops up!"

"Ah. A signature." Gonbei grinned. "THAT certainly seems to be Fate's style."

"Whatever!" Hibari growled. "I just want my memories back!"

"Why?" Hirako asked. "You're better off like this. The Fate wouldn't have erased your memories if he didn't have a good reason."

"That's true." Batanavi managed to nod without banging his head on anything. "The Fate never does things without a reason."

"Like how he killed everyone in Great Britain just because he felt like it?" Gonbei snorted.

"That sure took a lot of time to clean up." Rinato said in her dull, bored voice.

"But in his defense, they DID accuse The Angel of being a witch, just because they saw her walking with Kumi in his wolf form." Enchiro said.

"However they could mistake a black wolf for a black cat, I have no idea." Kumi shrugged.

"That's 'cause you ACT like a cat. All pussy-pussy." Chika teased. "Here, pussy-pussy! Here kitty-kitty!"

"Shut it." Kumi said, bonking his twin in the head.

"Err... Can we go back to the matter at hand, please?" Yne suggested.

"Right. Thank you, Twelfth." Hirako said. "Our point is, The Fate never does pointless things."

"So what's that supposed to mean?" Hibari said, annoyed.

"That MEANS, you stupid boy," Rinato said, slowly reaching her boiling point. "That there must be a good reason WHY The Fate sealed your memories, so if I were you, I wouldn't try to get them back!" Hibari glared, but let it go.

"But I have to." He looked at the floor. "I HAVE to."

"Well." Hirako said. "The only person who can give you back your memories is The Fate himself."

"So? He's one of YOU, right? Just call him here and be done with it!"

All the Numbers glanced at each other, uneasy.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked.

"Well... It would be so nice if it was that simple." Nikane bit her lip.

"Where is The Fate?" Haku asked.

"Only The Angel knows." Takito shrugged.

"Okay." Hibari said, fighting the urge to howl in frustration. "Where is The Angel?" All the Numbers looked at the thick paper sliding door. Haku raised an eyebrow.

"SHE's The Angel?" Haku said, astonished. He suspected that the girl was important, but not in THAT way. She looked so pure, so innocent.

"Great, then. I'll just go ask her." Hibari got up on his feet.

"No." Kumi and Chika said in their usual perfect synchrony.

"Why NOT?" Hibari growled dangerously. His temper had almost reached it's limit.

"Because she-" Yne started, but was interrupted by opening of the thick door. There stood ZaKura, clutching a blanket. In a flash, Kumi and Chika were by her side.

"What's wrong, Dear? Are you tired?"

"Yes." ZaKura yawned. "Bedtime story."

"Oh, alright." Kumi smiled.

"You're not a baby, Kura." Yne teased half-heartily.

"Let's sleep, Chihiro!" Called ZaKura.

"Huh? Me too?" Chihiro said as she followed.

"Wolfy..." ZaKura murmured. Chika bent down. Then, there was a flash of light, and then, in Chika's place, was a blood-red wolf. ZaKura hugged it tight, like it was her stuffed animal. She closed her eyes.

At that moment, Chihiro realized that ZaKura was indeed not a baby. She was not as young as she acted. She was only a year or two younger than Chihiro at the least, and in some ways, she seemed OLDER that our heroine. She looked more mature, more serious without her innocent expression.

"Listen carefully, ALL of you." Hirako said, emphasizing the 'All'.

"Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess." Kumi started gently. "Her beauty was well-known to all, but not her personality. It was said that on the outside, she was an angel, but that on the inside, she had a heart of a devil, feeling no emotions or pity..." Something in his voice made Chihiro's eyelids drop heavily.

"In the kingdom next door," Hirako continued on. "There lived a prince, and his own beauty was stunning, as well. He was also the most intelligent man in all of his own kingdom. But they said that he used his gift for more cruel reasons..."

'I'm sooo sleepy...' Thought Chihiro.

"One day, the prince and the princess met." Yne said in his own charming voice. "And they fell in love at first sight. They married, and had two children..." Chihiro stifled a yawn.

"And" The three said in perfect harmony, "They all lived happily ever after..." For Chihiro, everything went black.

* * *

"...Or so said the rumor."

"The rumor?" Haku asked.

"Shh!" They said. "She's sleeping!"

"Continue the story, please." Haku said more quietly.

"We were going to, even without your interruption!" Yne whispered.

"Anyway." Kumi said, stroking his little sister's dark hair. "The princess was named Joumei. The prince, Fujiwara. Ever heard of them?" Rin and Hibari shook their heads, but Haku nodded.

"The Fifteenth Number." Haku said. "Currently said to be missing, however."

"Wow." Takito said, impressed. "You sure know a lot about us."

"I have my sources." Haku shrugged.

"Yes. The Fifteenth Number are a married pair, a pair of ROYAL pair." affirmed Takito.

"I fail to see how a Prince and a Princess could join the group of strongest warriors." Rin questioned.

"I told you. An emotion-less Princess. A cruel but intelligent Prince." Kumi said. "A hitman and a mastermind, with all the political or financial influence they need. The perfect combination."

"But what concerns YOU are not the Fifteenth themselves. It is their Children." Hirako announced.

"Are they The Angel and The Fate?" Hibari asked.

"Almost." Tesuki said. "One of the children are indeed, The Angel."

"Who is the second?" Rin asked.

"You wouldn't know of him. He existed a thousand years ago." Said Atane. "He is dead now."

"So... What is the connection?" Haku asked.

"The connection..." Rinato repeated. Then looked at Hirako. "Are you SURE we can tell them all this?"

"Well, is the name 'Hibari' not enough of a reason for you?" Deiran asked.

"That name brings back old memories.." Rinato murmured. "Old, TERRIBLE memories... The ones I have buried so deep down to mask the pain and humiliation we have suffered..."

"Haven't we all." Said Enchiro gently. "I, too questioned myself if this 'Hibari'" She shuddered. "Is trustworthy enough to guard our secrets."

"Fear not." Gonbei said, gruffly. "We can always kill him if he betrays our secrets."

"But... He was named after..."

"SILENCE!" Growled the twins. "Do not speak of that cursed man! Not in front of us and our precious little sister!"

"Alright, 'fess up. Is this little thing 'The Angel'?" Rin asked irritable, gesturing to the sleeping form of ZaKura.

"No duh." Hibari rolled his eyes.

"Well..." Hirako hesitated. "Yes and No."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin said irritably.

"We better tell the story form the start." Dieran said.

"No." Hirako said. When Haku, Rin and Hibari opened their mouths to protest, he raised an hand to silence the, and added, "It cannot be explained in mere words. Therefore, we will SHOW you what happened."

"You can do that?" Rin asked.

"It's simple magic, Rin." Haku said. "I can do it as well."

"We will show you." Hirako repeated quietly. Then, his eyes turned from their usual butterscotch shade to liquid gold. His grim smile was all they saw, before the three blacked out.

* * *

"What-the... Where am I?" Hibari wore up, feeling quite disoriented.

"You're up. Finally." Two tall (Or Hibari's just too short) figures loomed over him. "Haku! Rin!" He looked around. "Where

Are we?"

"In my memory." Replied the familiar voice.

"Hirako?" Rin frowned. "You look kind of different."

"Really? I'm not supposed to, you know. I know this me from fourteen hundred and ten years ago, but we spirits don't age, as you all know." Hirako glanced at his hands. "I don't FEEL any different."

"So wait. This is you from more than a thousand years ago?" Rin asked.

"Fourteen hundred and ten." Hirako corrected. "And yes."

"And WHY are you fourteen hundred and ten years younger?" Haku asked.

"Because the future 'me' didn't travel with you." Hirako grinned.

"You're not saying that-"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Hirako grinned. "This is the actual 'me' from fourteen hundred and ten years ago. The future 'me' told me you were coming."

"Oh." Said Rin. "Then can other people-"

"Hey, Hirako!" Tesuki waved, approaching the four of them. "What are you doing, standing there and talking all by yourself?" He, along with Kumi and Chika, came and stood with Hirako.

"We think he's tuning cra-zy!" The twins laughed.

"Anyway, it's time for the meeting soon!" Tesuki said.

"Then why aren't you two skipping along to pick up little Angel?" Hirako asked. The twin's smile disappeared, replaced by the look of annoyance.

"Masters' still mad at us for that prank we pulled on our last mission." They looked ever so disappointed. "They won't let us even TOUCH her!"

"Well, you DID mess up pretty bad, that time." Hirako grinned devilishly. "Ah well. Guess I'll just have to pick her up. It's her nap time."

"That's not fair!" The twins cried. "That's just taking advantage of the situation!"

Hirako shrugged. "Whatever." Then he started walking away. Haku and his 'Gang' followed.

"No, other people CANNOT see you." Hirako answered Rin's uncompleted question. "But," He added, "Be careful around The Angel, The Fate, Deiran, Atane, and Hibari. The other one."

"Why?" Hibari asked.

"Because Atane and Deiran specializes in Mental spells, correct?" Haku asked.

"Yes." Hirako nodded. "And The Angel and The Fate specializes in Elemental spells."

"What does the Elements have to do with this?" Rin asked.

"Mother Nature." Haku murmured. "And Father Time."

"Time?" Hibari repeated. "I thought we were in your memories, not time traveled."

"To the two of them, that is the same thing." Hirako said.

"You've really gone crazy, haven't you?" Tesuki's head popped out of nowhere.

"Stop that." Hirako pushed it away.

"Heyy. We want to see Little Angel, too." The twins said, catching up.

Hirako just 'hmmp'ed.

"Well, suppose you should never talk to me again, now that I'm going crazy." Hirako glared.

Tesuki sighed in mock disappointment. "I just wish I could. If only you weren't my twin brother."

"Twin OLDER brother." He specified. "Now, do your twin older brother a favor, and leave me alone. That means taking THOSE two with you." He pointed to the grinning twins, Kumi and Chika.

"Hey! We're not THOSE TWO! We have a name! And we know that it's Cumi and Khika!"

"That does not make sense." Another familiar voice said. "Namely because they both have similar sounds, the 'C's and the 'K's."

"Deiran!" Hissed Rin.

"Don't move too much, or too abruptly. Move SLOWLY." Haku whispered. Hirako nodded in approval.

"Wassup?" The feminine boy said.

"Let me guess, you're all going to visit The Angel."

"How did you guess." Kumi said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. But it probably was, for HIS world.

"Well, that is the only thing you four have in common." Deiran, apparently, had taken the question quite seriously. "And I know-"

"That." Chika said, "Was a rhetorical question."

"Ohhh." Said Deiran, catching up. There was an awkward silence amongst the five.

"We're here." Hirako broke the silence first, pointing to an an old but magnificent-looking building. It looked similar to any old Japanese traditional house, only a little different.

"This is-" Haku whispered.

"The Angel's house. She lives here with her parents." Was Hirako's hushed reply. "My 'Future self' told you about her parents, did they not?"

"Yes." Rin replied. She was about to say more when suddenly, Deiran looked up, like a hunt dog scenting the smell of it's prey.

"What was that?" He frowned. "There was something here, and I heard it!"

"There's NOTHING there, Dieran." Hirako assured him. "I'm sure you just heard something so very far away."

"No, I'm sure I heard something." The little boy said, stubbornly. "It was around-" He walked towards the three eavesdroppers, as they stiffened. "Here!" He reached out, making Rin and Hibari flinch. But what he grabbed was not Rin, nor Hibari, nor Haku. It was a brown ponytail. A horribly FAMILIAR ponytail.

"Chihiro!" Haku gasped. "Why is SHE here? And why can Deiran see her?"

"Hmm." Dieran studied the little girl carefully, then asked, "Well girly? Who are you?"

"E... Eh? Aren't you supposed to be one of the Numbers?" Chihiro asked, confused.

"The Numbers?" Deiran laughed. "Me? I'd NEVER join that crazy group, girly! I mean, the army? Dream on!"

"The army?" Chihiro frowned. "The Numbers are the army?"

"Well, DUH." The Twins, laughing with Deiran, said. "What else could it be but a bunch of obnoxious, haughty bunch of pretty-faces in the army?"

"Oh... I... I must've heard wrong..." Chihiro muttered.

"So, who are you?" Tesuki asked. "You don't look like you're from around here."

"Well, I was listening to this... STORY and then I fell asleep... Then I just woke up here. I don't know why. I don't know how I got here. I don't know where this is!" Chihiro cried piteously.

"Calm down." Deiran said, flashing his lady-killer smile. "Let's start with your name. What is your name, lovely lady?" He reached and grabbed Chihiro's hand, kissing it with his full, feminine lips. Hibari smirked as Haku narrowed his eyes.

"Ch... Chihiro. My name is Chihiro Ogino." Chihiro blushed, but just a little.

"My name is Deiran d'Ireland. Nice to meetcha'."

"You're from IRELAND?" Chihiro asked.

"Yes." Deiran said. "And where are YOU from?"

"J... Japan."

"Ah! Isn't that nice! Hirako and Tesuki here are also from Japan. How did you get here? By boat? By plane?" Then he laughed. "Oh how I LOVE planes! They're so pleasant, don't you think?"

"Well..." Chihiro started. "Like I said, I fell asleep and found myself here."

"Kidnappers?" Chika suggested. "Or maybe someone sold you to some perverted, old man." The Twins laughed.

"I'm pretty sure that that's not the case." Hirako said.

"How can this be?" Haku whispered urgently to Hirako. "Why is she here, and why is she... Solid?"

"Someone else must have sent her. With more precision then me. Unfortunately, I cannot do that, it is out of my territory."

"So who CAN?" Rin cried.

"One of the five I mentioned earlier would be able to... Certainly. But ZaKura was asleep... And if Deiran did this, he'd know it. Either he's faking it, or Atane did it." Hirako concluded.

"There's still two more options." Hibari said. "The other H-"

"No." Hirako cut him off. "That is not an option."

"Why not?" Haku asked. "Just because they are said to be missing, you can't just conclude they didn't do it."

"It's complicated." Hirako sighed. "Just keep on following me. You will find out eventually." As he said this, Kumi rang the doorbell. It opened wide with a creak.

* * *

Chihiro was confused. Very, VERY confused. The last thing she heard was the three numbers saying 'Happily Ever After...' and then... And then there was a voice! A low cackle, whispering;

"But that's what everyone thought." Then when she woke up, she was lying in a grassy field. She got up, thinking 'Where am I?', but then heard familiar voices. She went towards them, but 'eeep!'ed and jumped behind a bush when she saw who they were. It was five of the numbers, the ones who tried to kill her. They were standing on the doorstep of this traditional-looking, but a bit strange house. She took a step to look more closely. But then, the girly-one, the one who read her mind ('I think her... HIS name was Deiran' thought Chihiro), looked up, then turned, smiling viciously toward her. Chihiro ducked, but too late. He grabbed and pulled her by the ponytail.

"Hmm." He said, looking at yer thoughtfully. "Well, girly? Who are you?"

* * *

Behind the door stood a woman. A gorgeous woman, with a soft heart-shaped face and gently curling natural-blonde hair. She looked like a princess who stepped out of a fairy-tale story. 'Well, she WAS a princess, after all.' thought Chihiro. The way she had held herself with such grace and elegance, the way her smile seemed a little haughty, and the way her gentle aura was mixed with that princess kind of pride all tipped her off as the princess in Chihiro's dreams.

"Hirako. Welcome. It has been a while. I don't see you as often, now that you have finished your apprenticeship." Her voice reminded Chihiro of a bird's singing. Her English was smooth, but Chihiro could detect a slight french accent, much like the ones she had seen in comedy shows.

"Master Joumei. Indeed, it has been a while." Hirako bowed respectfully

"Did you come to see Ra-chan?" She asked, smiling warmly. Chihiro could see the resemblance between Master and Apprentice. "He just came back."

"Ah no. I was wondering if Angel was in." Hirako grinned boyishly, unlike his usual self.

"I afraid she just left with Yne." The woman said worriedly. "Did you have any business with-"

"Hiko-sann!" Came an excited voice.

"Hey! How're you doing, Joonie?" He smiled, bent down, and hugged the little girl. She had a long ponytail and golden-brown hair, a bit darker than Joumei's. Our sixteen-years old heroine guessed that this girl was the princess' ('No, she's a queen now.' She thought) daughter. They certainly looked alike, except their clothes. The Queen was wearing a soft pink dress with golden tints, while the Princess... 'Well, she's a tomboy princess.' thought Chihiro. She was wearing a worn and torn boy's sweater with a pair of old-fashioned jeans.

"I'm glad to see you." Said Princess Joonie, smiling into Hirako's shoulders.

"Me too." Hirako was still grinning.

When they broke apart, Princess Joonie wasn't smiling at all. She was scowling.

"That's not faaaiiirrr! You're being too good!" She cried, as Chihiro looked from one to the other, confused.

"You were being too obvious, Joonie. You gotta be DISCREET... Like this!" Chika smirked, then put a hand on Tesuki.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Tesuki screamed, then collapsed. Chihiro gasped, then fell on her knees beside the jerking and twitching young man.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She whipped around at the chuckling Chika. "What did you do? Isn't he supposed to be on your side?"

"Chill, girly."Chika said, putting two hands in front of him as if to stop Chihiro from coming any closer. "It's just a small taser, that's all."

"A TASER?" Chihiro shouted. "Do you even KNOW what that is used for? People other than the police aren't allowed to have that!" She gasped. "You're breaking the LAWs now?"

Chika rolled his eyes. "Are really THAT stupid, girl? This is the 7th century, the year 601. The taser WASN'T invented yet."

"Oh." Chihiro frowned. "Then how-"

"With a jolt of electric magic. Something JOONIE here has yet to master." Kumi said, as Tesuki got up again, dusting his clothes and glaring at the laughing Chika and Joonie.

"But what's important here, is not Tesuki and Chika." Deiran said. "It is YOU."

It took Chihiro several seconds to register that phrase... 'Wait, did he say this was the 7th century?'

"That is exactly what he said." Deiran grinned, and turned to face everybody else. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Right here, we have the result of a perfect time travel."

Chihiro could only stare.

* * *

"The Perfect Time Travel." There it was, the phrase Haku, Rin, Hibari, and Hirako were dreading.

"Time travel!" Joonie squeaked. "Oh mom, can I touch her? Is she really real? Oh gosh, the person who did this must be a genius! Time travel is the toughest magic ever! My mom wont EVER let me try it! Even if I get straight 'A's on my studies! Oh mom, can I please try it? Please please please pretty PLEASE?"

"Absolutely NOT." Joumei said in a stern voice. "We let you do it ONCE, and what have you managed to do? Drop half of your body in front of your 'past' sister's desk! And we had to drag your other bleeding half of your body with your organs spilling out! Remember when your sister tripped over your BRAIN?"

Haku saw Chihiro going white at that statement. He longed to hug her, to cover her ears so that she won't have to hear the horrible things being said. Rin just frowned and Hibari grimaced. "But I got straight 'A's! All of them! 'A's! Not even sis could do that, but I did! And you let HER try it!" Joonie kept whining.

"Just because she got a 'B' in Physical Education does NOT mean she's dumber than you!" Another scolding voice joined them. "She would've got those straight 'A's if not for that, Joon." Haku looked up to see a devastatingly handsome man. He had very light bronze colored skin and... A peculiar shade of hair. It was brown before, perhaps, but it had different shades of brown and black stripes. Is left eye was covered by a patch of bandage, but judging from his right, there was no doubt where ZaKura had inherited hers.

"Master Fujiwara." Hirako greeted respectfully. "Good to see you back from the meeting."

"Hirako. How have you been faring? I see you have grown." The beautiful man nodded. "And Tesuki is here too, I see."

"They're just ignoring us to see how we react" Whispered Kumi and Chika, a little too loudly. Everyone could hear what they were saying, including Chihiro, the human. "So we mustn't react. We must keep our stony facade." then they put on this comical stiff expression that those soldiers wore.

"Kumi, Chika." Fujiwara said. "You must admit your fault during the mission. You could've gotten us all caught, or even worse, killed."

"That WOULD be horrible." They agreed in false seriousness. "Then there would be no one to scold us for everything we do anymore."

"it was a miracle that Angel had a pair of scissors in her purse!" Joumei frowned. "If not for that coincidence, we would've all died for sure!"

"I think they're cool." Pouted Joonie, and received a grin from the twins.

"Stop that, we are scaring our rare guest." Fujiwara smiled. "And what is your name, young lady?"

"Chihiro." She said, a little more calmly.

"Chihiro." He repeated. Now, would you care to tell us who... Put you in this situation? If we know who did it, then we might be able to help you."

"I... I don't know. I don't understand why I'm here. I just fell asleep, and then woke up here."

"By HERE, you mean at this time period, correct?"

"Yes." Chihiro said, feeling a little annoyed that everyone has begun to question her, but didn't give any answers she seek.

"Sorry to interrupt your interrogation," Hirako said, looking as bored as Chihiro. Haku noted with interest that this present, YOUNGER Hirako lacked all the patience and maturity that the OLDER version portrayed. "But the meeting is in like, five minutes? So can we PLEASE get a move-on?"

"Right." Fujiwara replied.

"I didn't realize that they had established 'time' in this era." noted Chihiro.

"Remember, child," Joumei said with a warm smile. "That we are spirits, and not humans like you."

"How-"

"Your scent, of course." The Twin said, rolling their eyes. "It gives off this warm and fuzzy scent that humans have."

"Anyway." Said Fujiwara, pulling on a coat that appeared out of nowhere. "You may follow us to the meeting place, but you must stay outside, I'm afraid. It is rather private. My son, Joon, can stay with you."

"Your SON?" Screeched Chihiro and Rin. The latter, of course, was unheard by the other occupants of the room.

"Yeah." Joonie rolled his eyes, which were the exact same shade as his mother's. "What, I look to girly for you?" He menaced.

"N... No." Chihiro stammered, still in shock.

"Joonie." Joumei said. "Don't threaten out lovely guest, please."

"Yeah. Whatever." Joonie stuck a tongue out at Chihiro whipped around to open the door. "What, are you all gonna just stand there forever?"

* * *

"Here we are." Joon pointed to a small, shabby-looking cottage. "This is the meeting place." Apparently, the girly-boy had taken upon himself to be Chihiro's guide. He had pointed and chattered about the famous places as they walked.

"It looks a bit... Unstable." Chihiro grimaced, wondering if it was really safe to go in.

"Oh, but it won't collapse on us, don't worry." Joumei laughed. "It's not made by HUMANS, you see."

"Alright... Then." Chihiro stuttered, still feeling a bit unsure. But she stepped in, without complaint, into the little house, and gasped. Before her, there was a nice, cozy-looking reception room. The walls were soft light green, relaxing for the eyes, and some comfy couches were spread out through the room. There was a single counter, and behind it was a door. A wood-textured door (but Chihiro was sure it was just painted on; it looked way too smooth). Then, with a jolt, she realized that all these things should not have been invented in the 7th century.

"But that's in the HUMAN world." Deiran interrupted her line of thoughts. "Don't put our technology in comparison to yours."

"We don't like technology, not really." Tesuki shrugged. "It disturbs our 'Home Domains'. But at times, it is useful. Like the good ol' wooden staff." Before Rin could shout (a wasted effort, since no one can hear her), Chihiro asked;

"What are your 'Home Domains'?"

"Who are you?" The door opened and shut yet again, revealing...

"The Grandma Trio." Groaned The Twins. Indeed, Enchiro, Rinato and Atane were standing there. But none of them had asked the question. A little head popped up between Enchiro and Rinato. One with round, curious orangey-brown eyes and an elfin face.

"Sis!" Joonie cried in delight and rushed to hug her. "You're here! Finally!"

"Yes, I'm here." Said Nikane, smiling. "I'm not late, am I?" She asked as she turned towards Fujiwara and Joumei.

"No. In fact, you are a bit early. There are some who haven't arrived yet."

"I see that brat's not here yet. I suppose he is with the stupid pig." Atane smirked, as the 'Grandma Trio' all settled down into a sofa.

"And who IS our little guest? I haven't seen her before." Enchiro smiled in a nun-ly manner. "Hello, please call me Enchiro. I am humbled to be at your presence, dear guest."

"Uhh... Same here... And please feel free to call me by my name; Chihiro Ogino." She said, trying her best to copy Enchiro's gracious tone and polite curtsey.

"I'm Nikane! It's such a pleasure to meet you, Chihiro!" Chihiro smiled. It was hard not to, in front of this enthusiastic and happy girl.

"Since I don't feel like introducing my self, why don't you show her our portraits, Nikane?" Rinato asked in her usual bored voice.

"What a GOOD idea!" Atane clapped. "Look here, Chihiro-" She grabbed her hand and dragged her across the room in front of a wall covered by dozens of portraits. "That is Tesuki, then Nikane, then Rinato-"

"She said NIKANE, Atane." Deiran grumbled. "I don't want to hear that girly-voice anymore!"

"Stop talking then." Atane stuck out a tongue.

"Chihiro, this is Enchiro, as you have seen before." Nikane said gently, apparently unconcerned, as Atane and Deiran glared at each other.

* * *

"Well, that is most of the Gang." Nikane finished with a smile.

"Most? What do you mean?" Chihiro asked, a question Haku had been wondering himself. There were only sixteen pictures hung up on the wall. There was supposed to be nineteen...

"She means that the wall is not complete, that's what she means." A rough voice, a little panting, came from the door, now wide open. "'Cause we never managed to take one. They won't pose for a portrait, nor would they let us take a picture. They're fast, those three. Well, Hibari and The Fate helped The Angel."

"Takita!" Chihiro cried, then glanced to the side, at Nikane. "Right?" She asked, for conformation.

"Takito, new-face. But close enough." The grinning boy corrected. Atane looked disappointed.

"Oh god. The brat is here." She sighed. "I hoped they would be late... He's with pig-face, too."

"Who 'r'yoo callin'a pig-face, you wrinkly ol' bat!" Gonbei yelled. He raised his fist, but thought better of it when he saw Enchiro's face. "We brought the punching bag, too." He grumbled and set down the leached corpse he was carrying. Chihiro gasped. But suddenly, the corpse moved, ruffled his hair and stood, lightly, up.

"Oh.. H... Hey everybody." The 'corpse' looked slightly confused. Chihiro could now see that he wasn't ACTUALLY harmed- his whole body was scratch-less. It was only his clothes (quite fashionable for the 7th century, Chihiro supposed) were battered, dirtied, and torn in places. His bright green hair was curlier than ever.

"Batanavi! I was WONDERING what happened to you, old buddy!" Atane chuckled, and slapped the poor boy on the back slightly harder than a normal person would, making Batanavi stumble and fall onto Takito.

"Ehh... I'm good, thanks Atane-San." The clumsy young man grinned up sheepishly from the other man's muscular arms.

"So, am I the last one?" A slim figure appeared on the doorway, making everyone, invisible or otherwise, turn to face him. Hirako grinned, a little painfully.

"Hibari. Welcome, little brother."

* * *

"HE's HIBARI?" The other Hibari, the invisible one, yelled. But no one, save Haku, Rin, and Hirako heard him. Hirako rubbed his ears and glared accusingly at him.

"Hirako. Everyone." HIBARI (A/N-from now on, the Animal Guardian will be referred to as Hibari, while the past one will be written HIBARI, in all caps.) nodded, then turned distastefully at his OTHER brother. "Tesuki."

"You. I hoped you wouldn't come." The mentioned man hissed through his clenched teeth.

"As if. I would be in so much trouble if I did." HIBARI laughed, and Chihiro could indeed see the resemblance between him and Hibari. The same blue-black hair, swept to hide the right side of his face, only the Animal Guardian's were a few shade lighter. The same pale skin, the same slight build, the same sarcastic curve to his lips. The most pronounced difference was in their eyes. Hibari's were a shade of mysterious blue, but this one, HIBARI, had piercing dull red ones. Chihiro wondered if these two antonyms were appropriate to describe them, but they really were both piercing and dull at the same time.

"Anyway, it looks like I'm the last one..." He looked around. "Or AM I?"

"No... Lian and Yne has yet to come." Joonie stared up at him with an adoring smile. "And same with Mister Fate... And my sister." He grimaced in distaste at the mention of the last member.

"Ell's still not here? How rare. She's usually at home, is she not?" HIBARI cocked his head to the side.

"I dunno. She went out with Yne early in the morning." Joon replied, as the door opened up to reveal yet another person. Or another TWO people.

"Oh hi, everyone." Yne gave a silly wave to everyone. "Lian and I have finally arrived, so we can get startin'!"

"Yne!" Joon laughed happily. "And Lian!"

"Hello, princess." Lian teased. "How'r you doing today, your majesty?"

"Good, thank you ever so much, LADY Lian." Joon smirked, and hugged the golden blond.

"Lesbians." Whispered Takito, a little too loud, just like always, receiving two death glares as replies. "Okay, okay, I get it. Don't glare." He put his hands up. "I know that you two are GAYS, not lesbians already."

"Just ignore him." Lian and Joon said simultaneously. "Annoying bastard." Deiran chuckled.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss, KISS!" The Twins chanted.

"Enough." Fujiwara said sternly, and everybody froze. "My son is NOT homosexual. Especially," He glanced at Lian, who stood there, petrified. "NOT with someone short-tempered like YOU."

"He's not as short-tempered as Takito." HIBARI suggested. "He just acts like he's PMS-ing all the time." Everyone laughed, save Lian and Joon. Even Fujiwara cracked a smile. The tension in the room was gone, returning to it's previous happy state.

"Anyway." HIBARI changed the subject ever so subtly. "I couldn't help but notice that we had a rare addition to our... Team." He indicated to Chihiro, who was staring at him, fascinated by his resemblance to her new friend in the future, not knowing (of course) that he was, in fact, right there.

"This is Chihiro, and she's from the 21st century." Joumei explained. "Isn't she just a DEAR?"

"Yeah, yeah, dear. Lovely." The Twins rolled their eyes.

"Really?" HIBARI's eyes lit up with curiosity and astonishment. "Wow, for real?" He walked in a circle around Chihiro, closely examining her. "The one who sent her must be really skilled! There is no leftover pieces... All intact, she's in one piece... And the 21st century is like, a millennium away!"

"Who DID send you, anyway?" Yne asked with professional enthusiasm. "Corporal time traveling is not only dangerous for the traveler, but the sender also. This kind of magic, if it went bad, might have killed him, you know."

"The thing is..." Chihiro hesitated.

"You don't know your sender." Deiran nodded. "Most unusual."

"Ehh... I don't care!" Gonbei huffed. "Let's just get started, already! I'm getting bored"

"But The Angel's Fate's not here yet." Nikane said worriedly. "We can't start without them!"

"They're late." Deiran raised his hand, as if he was feeling the air or something. But Chihiro knew, from experience, that this gesture was actually a way to tell time, just like looking at a watch. "Most unusual." Deiran repeated.

"Do you think something happened to them?" Nikane shivered. "Oh god, they can't have been-"

"Wow!" Joon thrilled. "I hope the army got to her! That'll show her that she's not the perfect smarty-pants everyone thinks she is!" Joon laughed, but stopped midway when he saw his parents' expression. "Acne-face." He muttered darkly, turning his face away.

"Who's an Acne-Face?"

Everybody turned. There stood a grinning boy. Chihiro stared. The boy was exactly how she imagined a vampire to be, when she was young. And there he stood, looking gallant as a prince and handsome as a devil. He was all black and white- hair as black as the shadow, skin as white as the light, and his eyes... His eyes were hypnotizing. The shade of very blood itself, they stared right at Chihiro with open amusement.

He was just like ZaKura.

'No, he doesn't have the scar." Assured Chihiro.

"I see." The boy nodded all of the sudden. "The future, eh? That's our specialty."

Chihiro frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Elemental magic is our specialty. We 'read' your earlier conversations, and we saw that you are from the future." The boy explained, and turned to Joumei and Fujiwara. "Angel's coming, soon. She said she'll be here in a minute. She had to fetch a bag for Mulji."

"That girl." Fujiwara shook his head. "One of these days, she'll have to learn to let go of that stuffed seal."

"'Mulji is a STUFFED SEAL?" Rin asked, ridiculed. "One of the notorious Numbers, with a stuffed animal. I can't picture it."

"Well, lucky you, you're gonna see it in three... Two..." Hirako counted. "One... Zero."

An awkward silence lasted for one more second. Then the door creaked open slowly.

"Fate!" Hissed a voice from the creak. It wad unmistakably ZaKura's "Is mother there?"

"Come in, Angel." Fujiwara said, in a monotone voice. The door jumped. Apparently little Angel was holding the door handle on the other side.

Chihiro looked up to see the girl coming in, ready for the sight of the familiar, friendly but Gothic looking and scarred face an braced herself to the frighting red eye.

But the eye she saw wasn't red.

And this wasn't ZaKura.

* * *

**OK, so this is like, my longest chapter ever...**

**Yay! XD**


	8. Something that was never broken

**Hello, it's been a while...**

**Honestly, I lost all will to write after my iPod erased this chapter when I'd JUST finished it...**

**But I'm back! yay XD**

**Not that long, but it's just a start.**

* * *

**Chapter 7; How am I supposed to fix... Something that was never broken?**

The face wasn't Gothic, but it seemed friendly. Chihiro gasped. This CLEARLY wasn't the ZaKura she knew. This... Stranger had nothing in common with her, but she WAS similar to her father. The same messy hair, the somewhat bronze-ish skin, the eyes. She could've even had her father's high cheekbones, only they were hidden by layers of... Fat. If she had ONE thing that was direct opposite of Angel, it was her chubbiness. Round face, round figure, round tummy was quite un-Angel-like.

"You're late." Fujiwara grunted.

"I'm sorry, daddy, I was just-"

"It doesn't matter now. Let's go in."He cut her off, guiding her by the shoulders. The rest of them filed out of the room after them, into the fake wooden door. Chihiro was left alone with Joon, who was glaring after the door as it was slammed shut with a loud 'clang!'.

"They NEVER let me in one of their meetings." He grumbled.

"What do they do in their 'meetings'?" Chihiro asked.

"Ehh, they make plans and stuff. Y'know. For work."

"Work?" She said, a little puzzled.

"Yeah. As inconvenient as it is, we cannot live in this world without money." He sighed. "If only the human-spirit council didn't forbid making counterfeit money with magic. The world would be a much better place."

Chihiro cocked her head to the side; "Human-spirit council?"

"Also known as: The Army." He nodded to himself.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you... What's The Army? I mean, I know what it is, but-" Chihiro stopped blabbing as she saw the look on the blond boy's face.

True and untainted loathing. Rage burned in his eyes and he gritted his pearly white teeth.

"Those scums of this earth doesn't have the right to boss us around!" He hissed, looking strangely similar to Haku. Chihiro sniffed at the memory of her friend. It seemed like it's been AGES since she saw him... "They are the so called 'rulers' of our world." Joon continued, snapping Chihiro out of her reverie. "They are said to be the strongest of both worlds: the Spirit's and the Human's. There are two organizations under this name: The Numbers, a group of the best human warriors, and The Elders, the strongest magic-users amongst the spirits." He paused and glanced at Chihiro before continuing. "They are like the police, and they have their own prison too. Their method of choosing their member is pointlessly cruel and heartless. They have no weaknesses, show no mercy, and once you do something to make them target you, there's no escaping them: they will find you and brutally murder you, whether you're human or spirit." He growled. "Whatever you do Chihiro, I advise you to NOT cross their path." The woman gulped and nodded.

"I.. I see..." She stammered. "So... Uhh... What kind of job does your parents have?" She asked, desperately trying to change the subject that made the little boy snarl. She sighed as the he blinked twice and came back to the old cheerful-looking Joon.

"Oh, this and that. They get along quite well, despite their appearances. I actually don't know a whole bunch of details, but I know that whatever they do, it causes them to often go out at night." He shrugged. "Mostly they do it when they think I'm sleeping, and come back before I wake up, but some times I stay up the whole night to watch them."

"So..." Chihiro frowned a bit. "You don't know what your parents do for a living?"

"I tried to follow them countless times." He whined. "But they're too good! Once I waited the whole night to surprise them when they come back, but mommy was furious when I did it!"

"So... Basically you don't know anything..." Chihiro summarized.

"No!" He cried in denial. "I know SOME things! Like how their latest job requires my stupid SISTER to go act as a personal maid for this really cool rich guy!" He sneered. "Can you believe it? HER! A MAID! I laughed SO hard when I heard that at first!" He announced gloriously. "I mean, yeah, Min's a real cool guy and all, but can you IMAGINE my pig of a sister in a maid's dress?"

"Who's Min?" Chihiro asked curiously.

"The cool rich guy." He replied. "He's like, super cool. We went out some time. HE didn't exclude me like the rest of my family."

"So she's working for this guy called Min for the sake of your parents' job?" She asked, quite puzzled.

"That's what it looked like. But she quit, you know. Like two days ago."

* * *

Haku, Rin, and Hibari followed Hirako into the dark, badly lit staircase through the seemingly-wooden door. As they passed by, Haku noted the thickness of the door... 'Some meeting they're gonna have down there.' He thought. 'If they need a door this thick to prevent anyone from getting in.' He felt a little worried about leaving Chihiro alone up there with the pretty boy she barely knew, but it couldn't be helped: he got the feeling that this meeting was a very important part of the story.

Beneath the long, winding staircase ('which seem kinda cliche', as Hibari pointed out) was yet another door, this time seemingly made of 'real' wood.

"Oh." Haku breathed, in surprise. "Impressive."

"What is?" Asked Rin, a bit annoyed that whatever he could see, she couldn't see also.

"Look closely; that door is layered with incredible amount of magic force." He whispered. "STRONG magic force. You shouldn't be miffed that you couldn't sense it." He added. "I only noticed it when I looked at it carefully, too. Anyone who tries to open this door by force will most likely die." He said, simply.

"Cast by Batanavi and Atane themselves." Hirako murmured. "Even one of the Elders won't be able to get through this one."

"Geez, stop talking to yourself." Tesuki snapped. "If you REALLY feel the need to express your craziness, do it somewhere besides my side."

"It's not MY fault you're my brother." Growled Hirako.

"Enough!" Barked Fujiwara.

"In in in everyone." Hummed Atane happily.

"What d'you think they're doing here?" Asked Hibari.

"I have no idea, but-" Haku cocked his head sidewards. "Hmm. It seems that not only can you overhear what is going on inside this chamber, but the sound from outside is completely blocked as well."

"Sen had BETTER be okay when we get back up there." Rin hissed.

"She will be. Joon Fujiwara can't hurt a single fly to save his life." Hirako assured her.

"Well, there's no point of worrying 'bout her right now. We have no idea what's going on outside this room." Hibari commented, care-freely.

"Sit down, everyone." Grunted Fujiwara, and the invisible trio were suddenly aware of their strange surroundings.

"Is it just me, or did we just get transported into some sort of... Garden?" Asked a puzzled Hibari.

"Apparently not. Look, the grass is artificial."

"...This reminds me of the story Sen told me last year." Rin murmured.

"What story?" Asked Haku, interested in anything that Chihiro might have told Rin but not himself.

"The humans' theory of the World's creation." She replied. "Sen told me two; one about the... The 'atoms' coloring or something and the other about this God who made the whole world in six days."

"And... How do you see the connection between artificial grass and the creation of this Earth?" Hibari remarked snidely.

"Well... In the second story, God had made this... Hill. Or was it a Garden? I can't quite remember... But it was called Eden. I can remember THAT one because Chihiro kept mispronouncing it."

"So what about this... Eden Hill?" Hibari asked.

"The Eden Hill?" Hirako looked up. "You must mean the Garden of Eden."

"Yeah, that. And in the center of it was... Something like an apple tree, she said. But the first humans ate that fruit when they're not supposed to, and got chased out of that Garden."

"So... Your point being?"

Rin sighed. "Open your eyes, you dummy. There's an apple tree at the center of this place, isn't there?"

"Yeah..." Hibari answered. "But it's not QUITE an apple tree... Seems sort of different."

"I've never seen this specie of tree before." Remarked Haku, surprised.

"Exactly. Sen never said that it's an 'apple tree'. She specified that it was SORT OF like an apple tree."

"My my, you sure are smart, aren't you?" Chuckled Hirako from the side. "Indeed, this meeting place was designed to resemble the famous Garden of Eden."

"Why?" Asked Rin. But she was cut short by the unnatural silence that suddenly filled the room. Everyone had stopped talking at once. Hibari and Haku looked around, wondering if there was some kind of signal that they'd all missed. All the members were sitting in a circle, just a few meters away from the tree.

"Let us start." Fujiwara was the one who broke the silence first. "As you all might know, this job might as well be our last." He paused to look around. "Therefore, I would like to announce this as our last official meeting.

"This invisible war has been going on for centuries, outside the knowledge of our fellow spirit citizens, as well as the humans. But it is time. It is now the time to tip this peace that was balancing on the tip of a sword. we have confirmed the location of the orb. This time, unlike any other jobs we've done, we'll be working for none other than ourselves." The air of the room changed. The grass rustled in an invisible wind and the leaves of the mysterious tree started to wither.

"We will end this bloody life we've been leading."

* * *

"Hey." Chihiro looked up to see a grinning face of the palest shade. "Whach'a doin', Chihiro-chan?"

"The Fa-Fate." She stammered.

"Oh, bravo! You managed to remember my NAME! I am truly honored." The boy laughed, in a manner that made Chihiro wonder if he was insane, by any chance.

"Shouldn't you be down there, with the rest of your... Friends?" She asked carefully.

"I am down there." He replied in the innocent fashion so very similar to ZaKura.

"No you're not." Chihiro insisted stubbornly. "Because you're up here."

"Oh, haven't you always wished that you could be in two places at once?" He asked. "It's quite convenient, you know." The boy laughed at Chihiro, whose eyes were as round as plates.

"Are you... For REAL?" She stammered.

"Sure. I'm solid an' all, see?" He said as he patted Chihiro's cheek and pinched her nose.

"Hey! C-cut that out!" Fate laughed as his victim struggled to get free. "I can't breathe!" When he let go, she glared and rubbed her nose, while muttering something about a sadistic bastard under her breath. Her doubts about this Fate NOT being the one that tricked her into staying in the spirit world were fading away into nothingness.

"By the way," He glanced around. "Where's Joonie? Isn't he supposed to keep you company?"

"He went back to his house to fetch something." She grunted, glaring squarely into his blood red irises. Her mother always said, look at your enemies straight in the eyes, even if they make you shake in fear.

"I... See." He sat down, slowly, beside her as if to test if she'd run away. Of course, our mighty heroine stood her ground... In this case, stood her couch.

"So." He grinned.

"So?"

"Isn't there anything you want to ask me? Anything at all?" He paused to smile lopsidedly at her. "I was told that you were a very... Inquisitive girl."

"Why would I want to ask YOU, ANYTHING?" She frowned. No way in Hell she'd let her guard down when dealing with THIS young man.

"Weeell..." He tried to shrug carelessly, only to fail. "I can answer any question you'd like-"

"But there's a string attached to it, isn't there?" She asked sharply. She got tricked by the Fate once, and she wasn't planning on falling so easily again. Not this time. She was older and wiser.

"You're surprisingly good at this." He chuckled to himself. Chihiro just waited. "Look. As you already know, I control the element of time."

"So?"

"I can tell you ANYTHING you want. Anything. From which day your parent's eggs will be fertilized to where and who you'll marry in the future."

"What do you want." She said, annoyed.

"I need your answer on just three simple questions. They're harmless to you, I promise. Just three simple yes-or-no questions. That in exchange of whatever the Hell you want to know about your life. Your past. Your FUTURE."

Chihiro thought for a bit. "Why would you ask me those questions instead of using out AWESOME POWERS to discover the answers?" She quipped. She was immensely satisfied when his grin faltered a bit and he kept it in place with visible effort.

"That's because of a special trait of this particular power, see? I cannot see the futures of myself or those I love. That would just unbalance the whole world." He explained, ruffling his hair, annoyed.

Chihiro considered her options. Of course, the spirits, as usual, had the upper hand when dealing with these things. What if the Fate asked someone who can read minds to find out the answers? She gulped.

"Alright. I accept your deal." She but her lip. 'I had better not regret this.' she thought. Fate's grin widened. Chihiro took note of his pointy canines, just like Hibari's.

"Question number one." He started excitedly. "Did you see Angel, during your time in the future?"

"Yes." She answered immediately. No need to tell him that her looks and personality had a 180 degree turn, though. He DID say it was yes-or-no questions.

"With her, did you happen to see... HIBARI?" He lowered his voice, as if he was afraid of someone overhearing him.

"No." She answered curtly.

"Then, did you see... Me?" Chihiro could barely hear last word.

She pondered on the last question. The vampire prince's grin was now gone, replaced by a serous, guarded look. She finally decided on the truth.

"No."

His face fell for a split second, then changed into a thoughtful expression. When he turned back to Chihiro, his usual grin was plastered on his face. But now, the human could tell that it was a fake one and that his brain was actually working so fast that she could almost hear it spinning.

"Thank you. You've cleared up many of the questions I had in my head." He chuckled. "But you also managed to make up many more." Chihiro just stared at the strange boy. "Anyway," He smiled. "Your turn now. I will answer any one of your question as best as I can, and as honestly as I can."

"Then tell me one thing." She decided.

"Ask away."

"Why are you asking me these questions? What did you deduct from my answers? How did you know I met ZaKu... Angel before?"

He stared at her silently for a moment, then burst into a fit of laughter.

"Of all the things you could ask me for- who sent you to the future, why did you come to the spirit world, even the six numbers of the next grand prize lotto- you ask me how my BRAIN works?" He chortled.

Chihiro just crossed her arms and waited for his answer. "The truth is, I don't WANT to ask you anything about my future." She added silently, 'You messed it up beyond repair anyway.'

"Alright." He coughed twice, then went to somewhat-serious mode. "Deiran told me that he picked up the fact that you met Angel in the future. I asked you about mine and HIBARI's presence because I couldn't see it myself. And the conclusion I drew from your answer is that..." He glanced at Chihiro. But then, it might've been a plot to make the statement more dramatic.

"That would mean both HIBARI and I die during this last mission we're about to accomplish... Or that we're still trapped in that Hellhole of a prison."

Something about his voice, now void of any emotions, made Chihiro's heart skip a beat. Maybe it was the talk of death. And prisons... Still trapped in that dreadful prison...

"Wait, did you say 'STILL' trapped in that prison?"

"You mean, no one told you?" He sounded surprised. His eyes flashed toward the door and back to Chihiro's face again. "Oh dear..." He muttered. Then he turn back to Chihiro with his ever-present grin. But this time, it didn't reach his cold and calculating eyes. "Just forget I said that, okay?"

"No way." Said our heroine with her usual stubbornness. "What prison are you trapped in?"

A flash of annoyance showed in the Fate's eyes."Fine." He glared. "It's YOUR loss, if you want to hear about my- OUR gloriously bloody past."

Chihiro just nodded, trying to hide that she was a teensy-tiny-bit afraid of what he could do when he was mad.

"I'll cut straight to the chase." He said. "We're not good people, Chihiro. We are killers, murderers, hitmen who killed thousands of people for money and information. Of course, it's been just a couple of years that we've all grouped together to pursue this specific career." Without pausing to see Chihiro's reaction, he continued on. "The truth is, the me that you see now isn't the real me. Nor is the one sitting through a boring meeting several hundred meters under your own feet. I heard Joon talk to you about the Army."

"Yes." She whispered as the girl tried to absorb all this information.

"The Army have a prison. They call it the Heaven, and ironically enough, it's just like Hell." He rolled his eyes. "Listen. The eighteen of us... Everyone except Joon... Is a prisoner of the Heaven. That's how we met each other. At Heaven." Chihiro gasped.

"You mean... Even the nicest people... Like, like, Nikane and Enchiro are-"

"They were arrested for causing mass suicides and opening a school to teach people how to become criminals, respectively." He nodded. "Not nice, huh? Gives you a new view of the reality, doesn't it?" Chihiro paled, but the Fate was in no mood to be considerate. "Listen, Chihiro. You must stop being so naive. The world isn't a nice place. Everyone has their own secrets... Even you, don't you?"

Chihiro just nodded silently.

"We've been trapped in that Hell for over a thousand years. Over time, we have learned how to harness our powers in a way that we can have solid forms on this Earth through a hole in their barrier. It drains our power in a way that you cannot possibly imagine, but we've managed to last this long. Long enough to gather information about the Army and the Heaven. We've waited and waited for this day, Chihiro. You do know what that means, don't you?"

"That means that... Today... You'll..." She looked up at him, horrified. He smiled at her. A smile that could freeze oceans and turn people into stones. The smile of a devil as the World turned into ashes.

"**That means, my dear Chihiro, we'll break out of the Heaven today."**

* * *

**Review as always!**

**I luv My reviewers... They brought me back from the dead XD**


	9. No Love Lost

**Hello hello...**

**I'm back and my computer says it's been only 8 days... Yayyy .**

**If you're an attentive reader, you'll notice that I like to put dramatic monologues about ppls past. Well, don't let that bother you. I've sacrificed my lunch breaks at skool to write this. Cuz I'mma loner at soul. LoLz XD**

* * *

**Chapter 8; No love lost.**

Before Chihiro could reply, the thick wooden(?) door opened to reveal the crowd of people that disappeared downstairs couple of hours ago. The Fate beside her disappeared in a puff of smoke. When she looked up in surprise, the REAL Fate caught her eye and winked. He put his finger on his lip... He didn't want their conversation to be made public... How curious.

* * *

Rin was visibly paler when they resurfaced to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Asked Haku, a little worried.

"I'm fine." She snapped, a tiny bit miffed to reveal her 'weak' side to the Dragon.

"But boy, that was SOME meeting, wasn't it?" Remarked Hibari cheerfully. "I couldn't understand ANY DAMN WORD they said!"

"They said the orb-thingy was the key... The question here is- what are they trying to do?" Rin summarized. "The rest of the meeting was just a planning session to get that orb-thingy."

"We'll ask Hirako once we're alone." Haku nodded.

"Their method of doing things are disgusting." Hibari spat delicately, but of course it didn't leave any mark since he's... Invisible. "According to their plan, several hundred people dies, human and spirit."

"Well, we'll just get the facts and leave this place." Haku confirmed.

"Wait..." Hibari stopped in mid-stride. "Why are we doing this again?"

Rin and Haku looked back at the little Animal Guardian with a weird expression.

"We're doing this for YOU." They replied, so perfectly in sync. "To find YOUR lost memories and the origin of YOUR name. This actually has nothing to do with us. We just came along with you."

"Oh." Hibari looked surprised. "We were?"

"Let's just face it, this one's a hopeless case." Rin said while glaring at Hibari.

"We can't just abandon him here, especially since we don't know how to leave, ourselves. Chihiro's here anyway." Haku reasoned.

"We should grab Chihiro and get out of here. I wouldn't want her to witness one of the most terrible war in history of forever."

"True..." The Dragon nodded. Then the trio stood in silence... Which made them notice the conversation going around them.

* * *

"-We can't possibly bring her with us!" Rinato was saying.

"We can leave her with Joon. She'll be safe that way, won't she?" Atane agreed.

"Not as safe as when she's with US." Argued Lian, and Yne nodded.

"Something tells me that she'll want to see this." Said the silver haired boy.

"But she's a HUMAN!" Whined Atane. "Not only is she too FRAGILE, she's also gonna need looking after! And we can't spare any in our number to be her BABYSITTER."

"And let us all take a guess of who it's gonna be." Rinato added in a tone of mock interest. "Tesuki, too snappy. Nikane, she can barely take care of her own self, so no." She counted down. "Me, I don't wanna. Atane I can't trust with her own life, so no. Batanavi, for the same reason, no. Enchiro, since she's to busy dealing with other people. Deiran's a no too, since he'll just get her pregnant. Gonbei and Takito, it's useless to say. The Fujiwara couple, Yne plus Lian and Hirako won't take a human to save their lives. Kumi and Chika are in their own little bubble, so no again. The Fate, for obvious reasons, definitely NO." She looked at the boys, who were glaring at the ground, ashamed. "So who does THAT leave, huh? Do you really want to burden poor Angel with this? You DO know she won't refuse if we ask her. Tell me, Fate, as her partner, even if YOU don't care about her, then you should think of your own safety. You DO know that Angel is absolutely useless when fighting and defending at the same time, as are you. Do you REALLY want to perish that way, huh?"

"I... I suppose not." The Fate replied sheepishly.

"But I think she really OUGHT to come." Yne complained. "You want to come with us, don't you?" They all turned, suddenly, toward Chihiro who just looked like a deer in front of headlights at the sudden attention. The room was suddenly silent, waiting for her reply.

"Well, Chihiro? Are you coming?" The Fate smiled. "You want to come, don't you?"

"Ye-yes." Chihiro stammered.

"Great then." He clapped his hands. "It's settled, you're coming." He reached out to grab Chihiro's wrist... Then froze. The room suddenly seemed to reach below zero degrees.

"Something's here." He whispered, his narrow eyes widening. "Something... Or someONE."

* * *

Rin was beyond the thin border of angry, crazy and psychopathic. At the mention of Chihiro being dragged along to see one of the most brutal killings in the history of forever, she snapped and attacked the Fate's outstretched hand. Only when she slapped away that hand and was standing protectively in front of Chihiro did she realized the strange atmosphere of the room.

"SomeONE." The boy had said... He couldn't have meant HER, right? She was INVISIBLE, for spirits' sake!

"A spy?" Hissed Lian.

"Maybe..." Muttered the Fate. "But this room stinks of it, now that I've noticed. He glanced toward the fake wooden door and sniffed. "It's been in the garden!" The reaction was immediate. There were some 'dropping whatever it is they were holding' and 'jaws touch the ground', 'screech- run for your lives' and even a 'trip from shock'.

"This is bad." Haku turned to frown at Rin, who just looked out of breath and ridiculed.

"Who knows what they might do to you if they find you, huh, Rin-Chan?" Hibari sniggered, despite the gravity of the situation.

"Silence, everyone!" Ordered the deep voice from the back of the room. "Fate, Rinato and Deiran, find the intruder. Atane and Batanavi, secure your barriers. "Kumi and Chika, go home and see if Joon is safe. Everyone else, get ready for battle. We leave, whether or not the enemy knows about the siege." Fujiwara's order was answered by a chorus of yeses. "Angel, come along, we'll check the Garden." The said girl nodded and followed obediently, but not before glancing at HIBARI, who jerked his head once in response.

"I'll go check the perimeter." suggested Hirako, staring squarely at Haku.

"Whatever." Grumbled Tesuki. "Go crazy."

"Thanks, I plan to." Snapped Hirako in reply. Nobody noticed that he held the door open all the while... Just enough for Haku, Hibari and Rin to slip through.

* * *

"What the HELL happened back there?" Demanded Hirako, at the back of the building where nobody could hear them. "Fate found you! Why did you touch HIM, of all people? Someone like Yne or Chika wouldn't have noticed at all, but you just HAD to get one of most sensitive guy around, didn't you?"

"He was controlling her, I'm sure of it!" Rin yelled back. "There was something weird about him, I swear! His eyes didn't reflect any light!"

Hirako sighed. "His eyes NEVER reflect any light. Besides, he's ALWAYS like that. Hello? What the Hell would happen if all psychopathic killers walked around like normal people?"

"He's right." Haku agreed. "You should've been more careful."

"Now if you aren't careful, these two might get discovered too!" Hirako scolded her.

"Well then, what was I supposed to do?" She glared. "Was I supposed to just let her go and see the most frightening thing she'll ever see in her short human life?"

"I wouldn't have allowed that!"

"Oh yeah? I didn't see YOU arguing for her! You were just standing there like an idiot!"

"If I said that too soon, then they would immediately suspect that I have something to do with this!"

"If you HAVEN'T, Chihiro would've been dragged along with those horrible people!"

"I CLEARLY said that I would NOT have, under any situation, allowed her to come with us!"

"Okay, okay." Interrupted Hibari. "Calm down, both of you." When the two just glared daggers at him, he turned to Haku.

"He's right." Haku affirmed, his cool character not affected in the least. "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Hirako is right, Rin shouldn't have reacted that way, but she us right on the fact that Hirako did not try to interfere when they said they were bringing Chihiro." He concluded. The two hot-heads just hmmped. "In addition, it is my opinion that even though they have caught Rin's scent that they cannot do her much harm, as she is technically not of this time."

"That's right." Hirako agreed. "Even though your soul and presence are here, your bodies are still in the future." The trio nodded. "However, I happen to think it is a good idea to bring Chihiro with us."

"WHAT?" The reaction of Rin and Hibari was immediate. Haku just frowned a little.

"And why is that?" He asked.

"There are only three options in this situation." Hirako explained. "To leave her alone-"

"That is not an option." Haku said firmly.

"To leave her with Joon, or to bring her along with us."

"What about leaving her with us?" Hibari suggested.

"That's not different from leaving her alone, is it? Can you defend her from an incoming attack? Can you warn to her using your voices? Can you wield your magic to fight of any attacker?"

Hibari looked sheepish and muttered, "I guess not."

"I just can't understand WHY I can't use my magic." Complained Rin, trying to form a little blue flame, only to fail and stare at her empty, invisible hand.

"Joon is supposed to be good at magic, isn't he?" Asked Haku. Hirako looked at him weirdly. A mixture or sorrow and regret...?

"What's wrong?"

"You know, we are not what we seem to be..."

* * *

"Prisoners... Huh?" I expected Rin to be mad and pale, like she was when she heard their plan, inside the 'Garden'. But she remained surprisingly calm. "All of you are... Not really here?"

"No." Confirmed Hirako. "All of us in the meeting, that is."

"What about Joon?" Asked Haku from his spot beside me. He didn't make a single sound during Hirako's speech about the Heaven, prisoners, the Army and the Elders.

"Fujiwara and Joumei were arrested two weeks after Joon was born. For most of his life, Joon was sealed inside a cave, enchanted into a deep, death-like sleep. It's only been one or two decades that he's been awake. He's clueless about the whole operation, of course."

"Do they plan to make him sleep again, during the war?" I asked.

"No." He replied with certitude. "Worse."

"What then?" I couldn't think of anything else they might do... They couldn't possible kill their own son, could they?

"They plan to take his short memories away... And cast him away from the family."

Rin and Haku gasped. I was genuinely puzzled. That's not THAT BAD, is it? I mean, I had it done, myself.

"To their OWN son?" Rin screeched. "How COULD they?"

"Joumei was devastated, of course. But she couldn't risk him getting dragged into this." Hirako's lips were a thin line.

"Cast him away from the family?" I asked. "Where would he go then?"

"Angel's planning to drop him off at someplace in the human world, and strip him of his remaining eternal life." Hirako confirmed.

"But that means- that means-"

"That he will no longer be a spirit." Haku whispered. "He will die, just like a normal human."

* * *

The Fate is cruel, is merciless. It does not consider the situation of other people. It just does what it's supposed to do. Maybe if Fate was kinder, Juliet might have woke up before Romeo died. Maybe if it felt the terrible emotion of pity, James and Lily Potter might not have trusted Peter Pettigrew. Frodo might never have found the Ring, Judas might have never betrayed Jesus and Chihiro might have never entered that tunnel. But that was not the case. Fate just did what was Fated.

Que sera, sera.

It was Fate's favorite quote. MY favorite quote. What will be, will be. And I tried to follow it the best I can. Sure, I might've gained the reputation of a psychopathic killer, but I did not mind in the least. Even if I had landed myself in that Hellhole of a prison, I did not mind. What will be was to be, after all.

I had also met HER.

I saw her, at first, through my subconscious mind's eyes. They were carrying her into the same cell we all shared, the top 20 wanted criminals in the world. To tell the truth, I was very surprised. Such an innocent face she had, yet she had committed a crime grave enough to land herself a place in this Hell within Hell. Not that her appearance could mean anything. Nikane, number two, used her looks to the full advantage against her victims and enemies. Of course, no one could tell that I was surprised. Inside the special cell to retain the most dangerous spirits of all times, they spread a special gas that sealed all our magic and consciousness. We were literally, the prisoners of the living dead. How convenient it was for that stupid Army, not having to place any guards on us or feed us. Even though we spirits does not necessarily have to breathe as often as humans, we do need some oxygen to maintain health. They strapped her in, placed her number card, then left. I struggled to look at her number. They each gave us some sort of code number at the time that we were arrested. Mine was Fourteen, and- how curious, so was hers. With the new addition to our cell, that made 18 of us now. Two chairs left to fill, they were getting better and better, that Army. But they didn't even notice that number 24 and 19 had committed suicides by holding their breaths for too long. They had struggled for months, filling the cell with annoying clinking sounds, then one day, the clinking stopped. We all knew they were dead. We didn't cry or anything. Hell, I'd even be surprised if any of us felt sorry that they died. No. Those stupid fools, they didn't know that if we live, then someday we'll regain our freedom. Then we'll get our revenge.

* * *

That was about a couple thousand years ago. I lost track of the time, the year, and even my own age. Doesn't matter. What's important is here and now. This is the moment we'll get back our freedom, at the same time, get the revenge on the Army. Killing as many people as we could during the process was just like a cherry on top. It made the plan PERFECT.

* * *

By the time Hirako and the invisible gang returned to the seemingly-shabby old shack, Everyone had reassembled in the reception room.

"Did you find the intruder?" Asked Joumei, worriedly.

"No sign inside your house, ma'am." Chika saluted her mockingly.

"There wasn't anything out of order inside the Garden." Added Angel, in a somewhat-shaky voice.

"I didn't see anything around the perimeter either." Hirako lied, and even Rin could (grudgingly) agreed that he sounded so very honest and sincere.

"That's weird." Deiran said.

"Co-could it be that i-it es-ca-ca-caped?" Asked Batanavi, looking around frantically. "Oh no! What if they kill us! What if-"

"It's a-okay, Ba-ta-Chan!" Atane chuckled. "I'll defend you with my super-duper-extra-strong defense charm!"

"What's worse than dying?" Muttered Chika to Kumi, who just shrugged.

"If everyone is here, let's go. If the intruder has escaped, it is best to leave here as soon as possible." Fujiwara ordered. Nodding, the rest of them filed out the small doorway.

"They look like Elementary school kids during a fire drill, don't they?" Rin giggled, but Haku and Hibari just stared. Rin laughed alone for a moment, then realized that nobody was laughing along. "Chihiro told me that the little kids practiced evacuating their places in case of a fire." She gave up trying when neither Haku nor Hibari understood, and just followed the group out the tiny door.

"Everybody's out?" Fujiwara asked. "Number check?" A series of groans echoed, namely from the 'young boy' section of the group. The man glared, but didn't say anything and motioned at Tesuki, who sighed.

"One- Tesuki de Japan."

"Two- Nikane dei Swiss."

"Three- Nestra de la Chine"

"Four- Nestra of the Philippines, y'all!"

"Five- Enchiro del German"

"S-Six- Bat-tanav-vi d'Israe-el"

"Seven- Deiran d'Irland"

"Eight- wait, do we REALLY have to do this? Can't we like, just do a head count or something like all normal ELEMENTARY school kids?"

"Just say it!" Barked Fujiwara.

"Okay, okay... Eight- Takito de Kenya. Happy?"

"Next." The older man ignored him.

"Don't order me around!" The oldest man growled.

"NEXT."

"Nine- Gonbei from the Madagascar. And I'm NOT happy with your attitude, you little-"

"You're younger than I am." Fujiwara cut him off. "Who's next? The tenth number!"

"Chill, amigos. Ten- Hibari de l'España... Spain." He laughed.

"Eleven- Alec of Italia."

"Eleven- Chika of Italia." They said in sync, but Fujiwara passed them without any comment.

"Twelve- Yne of Brazil."

"Twelve- Lian of Russia... And I said I would go first!"

"Too bad." Yne stuck his tongue out at him.

"Thirteen- Hirako. From Japan."

"Fourteen- Fate, from somewhere-land." He grinned.

"Do it properly." Glared Fujiwara.

"Fourteen- Angel de la Korea." She ignored both her daddy and her partner, who were glaring (and grinning... In Fate's case) daggers at each other.

"Fifteen- Joumei de France."

"Fifteen- Fujiwara of the Great Britain." He closed off this strange ritual-like attendance.

"And Chihiro!" Laughed Deiran, raising her hand. Fujiwara acknowledged her presence with a nod.

"And there is another person to introduce, isn't there?" The Fate smiled evilly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Asked Nikane.

"I mean THIS little lady over here." Suddenly, he gripped something in thin air. Which is to say, nothing at all.

"There's nothing there, Fate." Takito rolled his eyes.

"Yes there is."

"No there isn't." Sighed Lian. "Can we just GO already?"

"Don't you want to know what I'm holding?" He teased, but Lian was never the type to fall for those stupid things.

"No. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less."

"Well, what about if I told you I was holding the arm of our invisible weasel of an intruder?"

"Whatever could you mean." He said, not interested, examining Angel's nails. "My, my, Angel. You need to care more for these fine hands. Stop biting your nail every chance you get. I mean-" But he was cut off by Chihiro's delighted shriek.

"Rin!"

* * *

**I've already started on the next chapter... And YES, it will start with yet another dramatic monologue, if you don't mind.**

**Always thanks to my reviewers (I'd like to mention Shanzzaanime, we have -Nearly- the same age XD)**

**Reviews and comments and constructive criticism are ALWAYS appriciated.**

**Thank You,**

**Ell, over and out. (bzzt)**


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